Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has stated that he considers it his “personal duty” to travel to Moscow on May 9, 2025, and claims that his decision is understood in his home country.
In an interview with the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, Fico reflected on his previous visit to Normandy in August 2024 for the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Western Front against Nazi Germany.
He rhetorically questioned, “Can I say that I cannot go and honor American and French soldiers because the Americans killed a million civilians in Iraq?”
Fico went on to argue, “How can someone tell me that I cannot go to Russia to celebrate the end of World War II and victory over fascism, when Slovakia was liberated by the Red Army?”
According to Fico, the people of Slovakia “understand this,” and thus, he sees the trip to Moscow as a “personal duty.”
He concluded by saying, “Without the Soviet Union, fascism would never have been defeated, and World War II would never have been won. And now I have to explain why I want to go to Moscow in May.”
