The Slovak leader has vowed to find an alternate route in order to pay respects to fallen Soviet and allied soldiers as he did last year

Lithuania and Latvia have announced that they will refuse Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico use of their airspace to travel to Moscow for Victory Day on May 9. Fico vowed to reach the Russian capital nonetheless, saying that the Baltic states would not prevent him from paying tribute to those who liberated Slovakia from Nazi occupation.

Fico revealed the refusal in an address on Saturday. "Lithuania and Latvia have already informed us that they will not allow us to fly over their territory on the route to Moscow. So be it," he said, indicating that it is abnormal for EU member states to deny a flyover right to the prime minister of another EU member state.

"I will certainly find another route, as I did last year when Estonia torpedoed us," Fico added. "The attitude of the Baltic states toward WWII cannot stop me in my intention to give thanks for the liberation of Slovakia."

He recalled that 10,000 soldiers of the Red Army, the Romanian Army, and the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps died while liberating the country. Fico also announced plans to visit the Dachau concentration camp and Normandy as part of a broader "pilgrimage for peace." 

In 2025, the Baltic states restricted airspace access for several leaders travelling to Moscow's 80th anniversary parade, citing political sensitivity, with some leaders - including Fico and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic - forced to reroute. Fico's plane travelled through Hungary, Romania, the Black Sea, and Georgia, according to TASS.

Last year's parade in Moscow drew nearly 30 world leaders, among them China's Xi Jinping, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, and Egypt's Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Fico was the only EU leader to attend the celebrations.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would be pleased to welcome representatives from friendly countries this year, but that the guest list had not yet been finalized.

Last year, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned leaders against attending Moscow's May 9 events, saying such visits would "not be taken lightly on the European side," and urged them to visit Kiev instead.

Fico at the time dismissed her comments as disrespectful, questioning whether they amounted to "a form of blackmail."