PRAGUE/BRATISLAVA (Reuters) -Thousands of Czechs and Slovaks on Monday celebrated the anniversary of the 1989 Velvet Revolution, which ended decades of communist rule in the former Czechoslovakia, with protests that warned democratic values were once again under threat.

Czechoslovakia split peacefully in 1993 and the two nations have maintained friendly relations, both joining the European Union and NATO. But many fear the pro-Western, democratic outlook of both countries is under threat.

In Slovakia, many thousands gathered in the capital Bratislava and other cities at rallies organised by opposition parties and civic groups protesting what they see as democratic backsliding and pro-Russian policies of Prime Minister Robert Fico.

‘DRAGGING US AWAY FROM THE DEMOCRATIC WORLD’

Fico, who

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