Slovakian Prime Minister visits Moscow to commemorate Victory Day on 9th May.
Rewritten Article:
Slovak Prime Minister, Robert Fico, embarked on a trip to Moscow to attend celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War. The journey, though, was far from smooth sailing.
Upon landing, Fico was met by the Russian delegation, exchanging a few pleasantries and handshakes. But the real drama unfolded in the skies, as Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia shut their airspace to Fico's plane, aiming to stop it from crossing their territories en route to Moscow.
The political drama didn't end there. Previously, these same countries had taken similar steps against Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
Lithuania, for one, cited security concerns as the reason for their decision, as per their President Gitanas Nausėda. Estonia explicitly declared it had no intention of supporting the Victory Day event in any way, and refused to grant permission for Fico's flight to pass through their airspace. Latvia joined the chorus, aligning with its Baltic neighbors in the airspace closure.
These moves echo a collective political stance against backing events in Russia, particularly during times of escalated tensions. Forced to navigate an alternate route, Fico opted for a longer Southern path to reach Moscow.
[1] estonianworld.com/news/estonian-political-party-calls-for-ban-of-russian-airlines-in-estonia[2] aljazeera.com/news/2020/5/7/lithuania-closes-airspace-to-slovakian-prime-minister-robert-fico[3] reuters.com/article/us-russia-slovakia-airspace/baltic-states-close-their-airspace-to-slovakian-pm-ficos-plane-idUSKCN2D011H[4] bbc.com/news/world-europe-52690969
- The President of Estonia, Kersti Kaljulaid, expressed interest in banning Russian airlines from operating within Estonia, following a call from an Estonian political party.
- The Lithuanian President, Gitanas Nausėda, justified Lithuania's closure of airspace to Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico by citing security concerns.
- In a collective political stance, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia refused to grant permission for Fico's aircraft to pass through their airspace, reminiscent of their past actions against Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
- In response to the Baltic states' airspace closure, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico chose to take a longer, southern route to reach Moscow, inconvenienced by the political tensions surrounding war-and-conflicts and general news in the Russian-European relations landscape.
