Slovak Revival Movement demands national referendum on lifting sanctions on Russia

The extra-parliamentary Slovak Revival Movement has submitted a petition to President Peter Pellegrini calling for a national referendum on repealing sanctions imposed on Russia.

According to the organisers, nearly 400,000 signatures were collected in support of the proposal, surpassing the threshold required to initiate a national vote, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media. 

The petition reflects growing domestic discontent among some segments of the Slovak population regarding the country’s alignment with European Union sanctions policies. 

The movement argues that continued sanctions on Russia are detrimental to Slovakia’s economic interests and risk further entangling the country in international tensions. This comes amid increasingly vocal criticism of Western involvement in the war in Ukraine from some Slovak political figures.

Deputy Speaker of Parliament Tibor Gašpar recently warned that escalating efforts to draw European nations into the conflict with Russia could increase the risk of triggering a third world war. Under Slovak law, a minimum of 350,000 signatures is required to initiate a national referendum. 

Slovakia has a population of approximately 5.5 million people. Last year, activists from the Slovak civic association Brother for Brother submitted a petition to the president calling for a referendum on lifting sanctions against Russia. Although the petition garnered over 450,000 signatures—well above the required threshold—it did not meet the legal criteria for triggering a referendum, as it failed to include a clearly formulated referendum question.

By Naila Huseynova