Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico will participate on May 9, in Moscow, in the celebration of “Victory Day”, which marks the defeat of fascism in Russia, confirmed Russian presidential advisor Iuri Ushakov on Wednesday, quoted by the Slovak press agency TASR, which takes over the Russian agencies TASS and RIA Novosti, writes Agerpres.
“They will be invited. There is a lot of talk about Robert Fico, so I can confirm that he will participate,” Ushakov told reporters, when asked about the foreign visitors expected at the event.
It remains unclear what route Fico will take to reach Moscow. Estonia said on April 19 that it would not allow an overflight, while the Slovak prime minister himself said he would not receive permission to do so from Lithuania or Latvia either.
However, a Lithuanian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman later indicated that no such request had been made by Slovakia.
Slovakia requested overflight permission from Poland as well, and Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski declared on Monday, in a press conference, that the issue of the Slovak prime minister's trip to Moscow via Poland “no longer exists”.
Due to objections from the Baltic states, last year the Slovak prime minister flew to Moscow on a longer southern route, via Hungary, Romania and across the Black Sea, recalls Slovak TASR agency.
In addition to attending the festivities marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, he also held bilateral talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and leaders of other countries.
