‘Year is 2025, not 1939’ – Fico confronts EU over caution regarding visit to Moscow
The Slovak prime minister has criticized the bloc’s “dictate” regarding attendance at the May 9 celebrations in Russia. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has strongly opposed recent warnings issued by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, directed...
TroibNews 
The Slovak prime minister has criticized the bloc’s “dictate” regarding attendance at the May 9 celebrations in Russia.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has strongly opposed recent warnings issued by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, directed at European leaders concerning their participation in the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow on May 9. He emphasized that “the year is 2025, not 1939.”
On Monday, Kallas remarked that any involvement from EU leaders in the 80th anniversary festivities commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Russian capital “will not be taken lightly” by Brussels.
“WARNING AND THREAT BY MS. KALLAS ARE DISRESPECTFUL AND I STRONGLY OBJECT TO THEM,” Fico stated on X on Tuesday.
The Slovak leader affirmed his commitment to attending the commemorations, declaring, “I will go to Moscow on May 9th.”
Fico raised concerns about the implications of Kallas’ statements, interpreting them as potential punitive measures for participation.
“Is Ms. Kallas’s warning a form of blackmail or a signal that I will be punished upon my return from Moscow? I don’t know. But I do know that the year is 2025, not 1939,” he remarked, referencing the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Fico argued that Kallas’ remarks highlight a need for introspection regarding the EU's internal democratic values, pointing to recent elections in Romania and France, during which leading presidential candidates faced disqualification. He also called for conversations “about the ‘Maidans’ organized by the West in Georgia and Serbia, and how the abuse of criminal law against the opposition in Slovakia has been ignored.”
He underscored that his travel plans are a matter of national sovereignty, stating, “Ms. Kallas, I would like to inform you that I am the legitimate Prime Minister of Slovakia – a sovereign country. No one can dictate to me where I can or cannot travel.”
Elaborating on his reasons for attending the event, he expressed, “I will go to Moscow to pay tribute to the thousands of Red Army soldiers who died liberating Slovakia, as well as to the millions of other victims of Nazi terror.”
Camille Lefevre for TROIB News
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has strongly opposed recent warnings issued by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, directed at European leaders concerning their participation in the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow on May 9. He emphasized that “the year is 2025, not 1939.”
On Monday, Kallas remarked that any involvement from EU leaders in the 80th anniversary festivities commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Russian capital “will not be taken lightly” by Brussels.
“WARNING AND THREAT BY MS. KALLAS ARE DISRESPECTFUL AND I STRONGLY OBJECT TO THEM,” Fico stated on X on Tuesday.
The Slovak leader affirmed his commitment to attending the commemorations, declaring, “I will go to Moscow on May 9th.”
Fico raised concerns about the implications of Kallas’ statements, interpreting them as potential punitive measures for participation.
“Is Ms. Kallas’s warning a form of blackmail or a signal that I will be punished upon my return from Moscow? I don’t know. But I do know that the year is 2025, not 1939,” he remarked, referencing the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Fico argued that Kallas’ remarks highlight a need for introspection regarding the EU's internal democratic values, pointing to recent elections in Romania and France, during which leading presidential candidates faced disqualification. He also called for conversations “about the ‘Maidans’ organized by the West in Georgia and Serbia, and how the abuse of criminal law against the opposition in Slovakia has been ignored.”
He underscored that his travel plans are a matter of national sovereignty, stating, “Ms. Kallas, I would like to inform you that I am the legitimate Prime Minister of Slovakia – a sovereign country. No one can dictate to me where I can or cannot travel.”
Elaborating on his reasons for attending the event, he expressed, “I will go to Moscow to pay tribute to the thousands of Red Army soldiers who died liberating Slovakia, as well as to the millions of other victims of Nazi terror.”
Camille Lefevre for TROIB News
