Slovak PM Robert Fico talks to Russian President Vladimir Putin in August 2016. (source: Facebook - Robert Fico)
Prime Minister and Smer party leader Robert Fico has confirmed he will visit Moscow in May 2025.
“I am pleased to have accepted an official invitation from the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, to participate in these significant celebrations, and I intend to do so,” the prime minister wrote on social media on Wednesday.
He was referring to the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow on May 9, 2025. Europe will also mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War on the continent next year.
“The Red Army and the peoples of the former Soviet Union played an indispensable role in the defeat of fascism and the victory in the Second World War,” Fico explained as his reason for planning the visit.
The Russia-friendly politician added that he respects the Ukrainians, Belarusians, Kazakhs, and all those who fought in the Red Army.
“When I visited cemeteries in Normandy [in August], was that okay?” Fico asked on Wednesday in response to a question about his planned trip to Moscow. “Why does it bother you that I want to honour the victims of fascism [in Moscow]?”
His decision comes despite the International Criminal Court issuing a warrant for Putin’s arrest in March 2023 in connection with Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. Fico acknowledges that Russia violated international law with its war in Ukraine. However, he claims that the European Union does not seek peace in the region and that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fears the war could end soon. Since Fico assumed office last year, Slovakia, which is still dependent on Russian oil and gas, has ceased military support for Ukraine through its armed forces. Nevertheless, commercial arms contracts remain in place.
It remains unclear whether the prime minister will be accompanied by other Slovak officials during his trip. Deputy Speaker of Parliament Andrej Danko, from the far-right Slovak National Party, has also expressed interest in visiting Moscow.
Phone call with Trump
The announcement of Fico accepting Putin’s invitation coincided with his disclosure that he had also held a phone call with newly elected US President Donald Trump, during which they discussed the war in Ukraine.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Fico described Trump’s election victory as a “defeat of public opinion polling and the media.” He also drew a parallel between his and Trump’s political experiences: “They wanted to imprison him; they wanted to imprison me. They wanted to shoot him dead; they wanted to shoot me dead.”
Fico referenced a shooting attack against him on May 15, which remains unresolved. He has accused the opposition of being behind the incident. Trump was shot in Pennsylvania in July and survived an assassination attempt in Florida in September.
In 2022, Fico faced charges of organised crime and endangering tax secrecy. However, the General Prosecutor’s Office dismissed the case shortly before police investigators were set to close it, providing only a formal explanation for its decision. Trump is a convicted felon, though federal criminal cases against him have recently been dropped.
