The leaders of Slovakia and Serbia will travel together to Moscow to attend the May 9 Victory parade next year, President Aleksandar Vucic confirmed on Saturday in an interview with the news channel TV Informer.
Both Vucic and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico had previously been personally invited by Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War.
Last month, Vucic said that he intends to attend the parade so long as “the end of the world doesn’t happen.” In a statement on Saturday, the Serbian president highlighted the importance of May 9 as the day of celebration of the WWII defeat of fascism, and stated that he will attend the celebrations together with Fico.
The plans of the two leaders to conduct a joint visit to Moscow for the celebrations were initially revealed last month by Fico. At the time, he also emphasized that the USSR had played a key role in liberating both Slovakia and Serbia from fascism and that his and Vucic’s visit would symbolize their recognition of the historic defeat of Nazism.
Previously, Vucic had also stressed that both Serbia and Slovakia would not allow history to be rewritten and would work together to “defend the achievements of the fight against fascism and Nazism,” adding that the peoples of the two countries will always respect those who fought for the liberation of Europe.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stated that the number of leaders and high-ranking officials invited to next year’s May 9 celebrations is comparable to the last BRICS summit held in Kazan.
Vladimir Putin has already invited the leaders and military units of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) countries, which include Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
Credit: RT News