Nearly 54,000 Slovaks Urge President Pellegrini to Raise Falun Dafa Persecution During China Visit

Nearly 54,000 Slovak citizens have signed a petition calling on President Peter Pellegrini to raise the issue of the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners during his visit to China. Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a spiritual meditation practice that has been banned and systematically suppressed by Chinese authorities since 1999, with practitioners facing imprisonment, torture, and forced organ harvesting according to human rights organizations. The petition reflects growing public pressure on Slovak leadership to address human rights concerns in diplomatic engagements with Beijing. Pellegrini, who took office as Slovakia's president in June 2024, faces a delicate balancing act between maintaining economic and diplomatic ties with China — a priority of the ruling Smer-SD-led coalition government — and responding to civil society demands for human rights advocacy on the international stage.