Fico announced on Wednesday that he “accepted with pleasure” the official invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the victory over fascism, which will be held on May 9, 2025 in Moscow. On Thursday, Thijs Reuten from the group of European Socialists presented a proposal to condemn Fico’s planned trip to Russia. “I regret the decision of the prime minister of the Slovak Republic to accept the official invitation of the Russian president,” said the Dutch MEP in the proposal.
As pointed out by the website Aktuality.sk, the vote did not take place in the end because the proposal was blocked by a group of right-wing MEPs. “The group of European Socialists presented the proposal only orally at the last minute. This made it possible to block the proposal before it could be voted on. It is enough for at least 30 MEPs to oppose the proposal in the plenary session, which happened,” the website said.
The proposal was blocked by far-right MPs and Patriots for Europe. “It shows where Robert Fico actually belongs politically,” pointed out MEP for Progressive Slovakia and vice-president of the European Parliament Martin Hojsík. According to MEP for the Direction Katarína Roth Neveďalová, the European Parliament tried to interfere in the internal affairs of Slovakia. “Every prime minister has the right to talk to whomever he wants, and he has the right to visit any country,” said Neveđalová.
The direction has suspended membership in the Party of European Socialists because of Fico’s stance on the war in Ukraine.
Fico boasted about the invitation from Putin. He accepted with pleasure
Europe
