Sikorski: Problem of Fico's Flight to Moscow No Longer Exists

Warsaw/Bratislava, 27 April (TASR-correspondent) - Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski declared at a press conference on Monday that the problem regarding Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico plans to travel to Moscow via Poland for the Victory over Fascism Day celebrations on 9 May no longer exists, TASR learnt from its special correspondent from Warsaw on the same day. "According to my current information, the problem has ceased to exist," stated Sikorski. On Tuesday, 21 April, a Polish news agency reported that Slovakia had asked Warsaw for permission for the Slovak prime minister aircraft to fly over Poland en route to Moscow. Earlier, on Sunday, 19 April, Estonia said that it would not grant Fico overflight permission. The Slovak prime minister said that he wouldn't receive permission from Lithuania and Latvia, either, although a spokesperson for Lithuania's foreign ministry, Kristina Belik, said later that no such request had been submitted by Slovakia. Meanwhile, the trip received criticism from Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Bosacki. "It is hard to imagine that, for this particular event organised by a power that is still, in these weeks, months and days, committing crimes against civilians in Ukraine, we would help Mr. Fico to get there," he told Polsat News. Due to opposition from the Baltic states, the Slovak prime minister last year flew by government aircraft on a longer southern route via Hungary, Romania and over the Black Sea. In addition to attending celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, he also held bilateral talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and leaders of other countries. mf/df