Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is looking for an alternative way to get to Moscow after the Baltic states closed their airspace to flights carrying him and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Reuters reports, BTA reports.
Fico is the only European Union leader to have expressed an intention to attend the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in the Russian capital. Vucic also confirmed that he will travel to Moscow on May 9.
On May 7, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda announced that the country's airspace was closed to flights carrying Fico and Vucic to Russia. Since 2021, Lithuanian skies have been used by flights between Russia and Europe following a ban on flights over Belarus imposed as part of sanctions against Minsk.
Other possible routes have also been blocked - Ukrainian airspace has been closed since the start of the Russian invasion in 2022, and Latvia and Estonia have also announced that they will not allow overflights to participate in Russian celebrations.
Fico himself stated on the social network "Facebook" that Estonia had refused to allow him to fly over, even though Slovakia has an annual permit for the use of Estonian airspace by the government fleet.
Fico's plans to participate in the parade clearly underline his readiness to oppose the official EU position. The union's top diplomat, Kaia Kallas, a former prime minister of Estonia, issued a categorical appeal to EU leaders not to participate in the celebrations organized by Russia.