Fico barred from flying to Moscow via Lithuania and Latvia
Robert Fico (photo: Getty Images)
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico stated that Lithuania and Latvia have banned his plane from flying over their territory to Moscow for the May 9 parade, according to a video address he posted on Facebook.
"Lithuania and Latvia have already informed us that they will not allow passage through their territory on the way to Moscow," the Slovak Prime Minister said.
He added that he would find another route for his flight, noting that he had already used a similar scheme a year earlier when he was torpedoed by Estonia.
In 2025, Fico also came to Russia for the May 9 celebration and met with Kremlin head Vladimir Putin. At that time, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić was also in Moscow. They were the only guests from Europe at the heads-of-state level in Russia.
Last year's parade in Moscow did not attract many high-ranking guests
Before May 9, 2025, Russian media wrote that more than a third of Russia's allies refused to come to Moscow under various pretexts, or sent lower-level delegations.
In particular, the leaders of Pakistan and India decided not to attend the parade due to the escalation of the military conflict between their countries. Russian media also wrote that half of the BRICS leaders were not planning to come, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
By the way, the Kremlin had expected a visit from Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, but he also refused to come to Putin, and at the last moment.
