Slovakia will start collecting signatures for the country's withdrawal from the EU and NATO in early 2025

In Slovakia in the first quarter of 2025, the collection of signatures for the country's withdrawal from the European Union (EU) and NATO will begin. This was told to Izvestia on December 25 by public figure Matus Alexa, founder of the civil association "Motorcyclists of Slovakia - Brother for Brother", which is preparing the petition. A previous proposal in favor of lifting anti-Russian sanctions has already garnered more than 360,000 signatures.

"In two months, the Slovak people have mobilized and advocated for the lifting of sanctions. Indeed, we managed to collect more than 361 thousand signatures. In order for the referendum to take place, it is necessary to hand over all the signed forms to the president of Slovakia, and it is he who should officially announce the referendum," he said.

Matus specified that the wording of the question is being worked out, but it will certainly concern the abolition of restrictive measures against not only Russia, but Russian individuals and legal entities.

The activist said that because of the anti-Russian sanctions in Slovakia almost all sectors have suffered: metallurgy, heavy industry, medicine, tourism, engineering and others. Moreover, the sanctions have negatively affected not only the economic, but also cultural and scientific and technical spheres.

"It is hard to speculate about the future, but I think that as the economic situation worsens, protest sentiments will grow throughout society. Already now we are witnessing crisis phenomena in health care and education - doctors and teachers are ready to go out on the streets to get their salaries raised against the background of rampant inflation in the country," he said.

In addition, the interlocutor specified that the association "Motorcyclists of Slovakia - Brother for Brother" works to preserve the memory of the Second World War and its heroes, the Red Army, regularly participates in the restoration of desecrated monuments, since 2014 has been helping children from Lugansk with humanitarian aid and financially.

"We are already preparing another petition for Slovakia's withdrawal from the EU and NATO. We refuse to cooperate with fascism glorified by the EU. We intend to launch the collection of signatures in February or March," Matus Alexa concluded.

"We are preparing a petition for Slovakia's withdrawal from the EU and NATO"

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Earlier, on December 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fitzo held talks in the Kremlin. Then presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov clarified that the visit of the Slovak prime minister had been planned a few days before.

After the talks, Fitzo said that his visit to Russia was a reaction to the statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose powers expired on May 20, about the termination of gas transit through Ukrainian territory. According to him, Putin said during the meeting that Russia was ready to supply gas to Slovakia directly after January 1, 2025.

On the same day, Slovak member of the European Parliament Luboš Blaga called Fico's visit to Moscow a slap in the face for the Ukrainian leader. He emphasized that the Slovak people supported Russia and did not consider this state an enemy state.