Gaspar Criticises Baltic Airspace Ban Regarding Fico's Moscow Trip

Bratislava, 21 April (TASR) - Parliamentary Vice-chair Tibor Gaspar (Smer-SD) on Tuesday condemned any decision by the Baltic states to prevent Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) from flying over their airspace on his planned trip to Moscow, calling it a restriction of freedom. Gaspar made the remarks at a press conference in response to a journalist's question. "Imagine that we started, for ideological reasons, blocking government special flights from the Baltics heading to Brussels or, in general, when they wanted to fly over Slovakia. This isn't how diplomacy is carried out. If this principle were to apply, government special flights wouldn't operate," he said. The Slovak prime minister plans to attend the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow on 9 May. Fico claimed on Saturday (18 April) that he wouldn't receive permission from Lithuania and Latvia to fly to the Russian capital via their airspace. However, a spokesperson for Lithuania's foreign ministry, Kristina Belik, said on Monday afternoon (20 April) that no such request had been submitted by Slovakia. Estonia stated on Sunday (19 April) that it won't allow Fico to fly over the country. According to its Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, no one should use the country's airspace to strengthen relations with Moscow at a time when Russia continues to violate international rules, wage an aggressive war against Ukraine and threaten the security of all Europe. Polish media reported on Monday that Poland had received a Slovak request for overflight clearance, citing foreign ministry spokesman Maciej Wewior. He stated that the request was currently under review. Due to opposition from the Baltic states last year, the government special aircraft carrying the Slovak prime minister flew via a longer southern route over Hungary, Romania and the Black Sea area. In addition to attending the 80th anniversary celebrations of the end of the Second World War last year, Fico held bilateral talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and leaders of other countries. mf/df