Fico is indeed flying to Moscow: Kremlin has confirmed his participation in9 May parade
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico will visit Moscow and attend the military parade on May 9.
According to Censor.NET, Russian media outlets, including "RIA Novosti," have reported this, citing Yuri Ushakov, an aide to the Russian president.
Confirmation from the Kremlin
Ushakov confirmed to reporters that the Slovak prime minister will join the "Victory Day parade" in Moscow as one of the foreign guests.
"There's a lot of talk about Fico, so as far as Fico is concerned, I can confirm it," he said.
At the same time, the Kremlin did not specify which other foreign leaders plan to attend the event.
Previous statements and a change of position
Earlier, media reports suggested that Fico would not be participating directly in the military parade, although he had not canceled his trip to Russia.
Thus, the confirmation from the Kremlin effectively refutes previous assumptions regarding the nature of his visit.
Problems with the route to Moscow
One of the main obstacles to the trip was the stance taken by the Baltic states. Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia refused to allow the Slovak prime minister’s plane to fly through their airspace.
As a result, the Slovak government was forced to seek alternative routes. In particular, Bratislava approached Poland to request permission for Fico’s plane to fly to Moscow.
What led up to
- As previously reported, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico will not attend the military parade in Moscow marking the anniversary of World War II, but he is not canceling his visit to Russia.
- It was also recently reported that the Kremlin claimed there was an alleged threat of a terrorist attack from Kyiv during the May 9 parade. Consequently, the parade in Moscow will take place without military equipment due to the threat of drones, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
