Slovak opposition rallies against the government of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Thousands of protesters have gathered in Slovakia’s capital on the 35th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution that brought an end to decades of communist rule in Czechoslovakia to oppose the policies of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico. The protest united the opposition behind it, including the liberal Progressive Slovakia, pro-business Freedom and Solidarity and the conservative Christian Democrats, who all say Fico’s a threat to democracy. Fico won last year’s won parliamentary elections on a pro-Russia and anti-American platform and critics say his steps follow the direction of Hungary under populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.