thousands of protesters
reassembled at
Condemns the Czech government's response to the energy crisis and aid to Ukraine.
Despite a national holiday, the protests, which united the far right and the far left, were smaller than the 70,000 or so people who gathered on Wenceslas Square in central Prague on September 3 for the same reason. .
Demonstrators waved Czech flags and called for the resignation of the current pro-Western coalition led by conservative Prime Minister Petr Fiala.
"Resign, resign," they chanted repeatedly during a demonstration on the theme of "Czech Republic First."
They criticized the government on a range of issues, including its support for European Union sanctions against Russia, and dismissed it as inadequate in helping households and businesses hit by high energy prices.
The organizers reject the Czech Republic's membership in the European Union and NATO, as well as in other international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Smaller protests were held in several other major cities.
The country's opposition made some gains in last weekend's local elections, but the ruling five-party coalition fared relatively well in another first election for a third of the seats in the upper house of the Bundestag. was.