Poland Weighs Slovak Fico Overflight Bid
Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Maciej Wewirr confirmed the request "is being analyzed," according to media, leaving Warsaw's final position unclear as Fico scrambles to piece together a viable route to the Russian capital.
Lithuania offered no such ambiguity. A presidential national security aide told radio station Ziniu Radijas that the ban would hold firm. "I believe this is our consistent position. We certainly do not support the desire of states to improve relations with an aggressor state. Therefore, this is our very clear moral stance, which we are upholding," the aide said, according to broadcaster LRT. Lithuania's Foreign Ministry had separately told LRT on Monday that it had yet to receive a formal overflight request from Slovakia, without elaborating on whether a decision had nonetheless been reached.
Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia have all denied Fico clearance to cross their airspace for his planned attendance at Russia's annual May 9 Victory Day parade in Moscow — the commemoration marking the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna argued that no nation should permit its skies to be used in ways that bolster ties with Russia while it wages war against Ukraine and flouts international norms. The Baltic states have collectively maintained that standard EU and NATO protocols governing official flights do not apply to Russia-bound travel under present geopolitical circumstances.
Fico acknowledged the denials and said he would seek alternative routing. The predicament mirrors last year's experience, when he reached Moscow via Hungary, Romania, and the Black Sea after facing comparable airspace bans. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic was also forced to reroute under similar restrictions.
Fico remains the only senior EU official to have attended Russia's Victory Day ceremony last year — a decision that drew sharp condemnation from across the European bloc.
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