'Slovakia' Party Again Urges Opposition to Visit Kiev for Victory Day Together

Bratislava, May 5 (TASR) - The 'Slovakia' party has again called on opposition parties Progressive Slovakia, SaS, KDH, and the non-parliamentary Democrats to travel together to Kiev on May 9, as this, in their view, would show the people of Slovakia that they have pride. The appeal has been made in response to the planned trip by Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) to Moscow for the WWII Victory Day celebrations there. Party leader Igor Matovic called the prime minister's decision treason and shameful for Slovakia. “Today, it is almost certain that May 9, 2025, will be etched in big letters in the modern history of the Slovak Republic as the day of the betrayal in Moscow. The participation of the prime minister in a propaganda event organised by mass murderer Vladimir Putin, at a time of mass slaughter of the Ukrainian people and in the company of various dictators and tyrants from around the world, will forever remain a great international shame on the reputation of Slovakia," said Matovic during a press conference on Monday. He pointed out that no other representative of a European Union country plans to attend the Moscow celebrations, not even Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who, in Matovic's view, has left Fico "in the lurch." According to Matovic, an opposition trip to Ukraine could also send a positive message to the Ukrainians and Slovakia's European partners. Fico plans to attend the 80th anniversary celebrations of the end of WWII in Moscow. He announced that he wants to pay tribute to the thousands of Red Army soldiers who were killed while liberating Slovakia, as well as to the millions of other victims of the "Nazi rampage." The opposition has criticised him for this and has been calling for him to cancel the trip. mf/df