Merz Promises Fico A Spanking For Slovak Leader's Moscow V-Day Trip

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was once again this year the only EU leader to visit Moscow for Russia's Victory Day commemorative WW2 celebrations on Saturday, which has drawn a predictable and fierce rebuke from Germany and European officials.

This was the second time Fico attended V-Day celebrations, after a similar controversial visit last year. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in particular chastised Fico with scolding words, as if Fico was being called to the principal's office. "We will talk with him about this day in Moscow today," he said. "We are celebrating Europe Day here in Stockholm today. And this is something completely different."

One apt and hilariously sarcastic headline said that "Merz promised Fico a spanking for a trip to Moscow on May 9."

Merz also said he "deeply regretted" Fico's trip while asserting it did not reflect the EU's "common view". Fico has not only been intensely skeptical of European aid to Ukraine, but Slovakia has also remained heavily dependent on Russian energy.

As for President Putin, he received Fico and said: "I know there were some difficulties with your trip to Moscow. But the important thing is that you're here." These 'difficulties' included several European states having refused to let let the Slovak leader's plane use their airspace on his way to Moscow.

"We welcome the gradual resumption of bilateral cooperation, which had effectively been put on hold by the previous Slovak authorities," said Putin. "We will do everything we can to meet the Slovak Republic’s energy needs."

Still, Fico didn't attend the full array of V-Day events. He met with Putin, but skipped the main military parade events at Red Square, and instead solemnly laid flowers on Friday at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is Russia's central memorial to millions of Soviet soldiers who died fighting against Nazi Germany.

Fico deflected ongoing EU criticism, saying his visit was "a manifestation of respect for the victims of the Second World War" and that he and Putin must necessarily discuss "fundamental questions" of bilateral relations.

"I am opposed to creating any kind of new Iron Curtain between Europe, the European Union, and the Russian Federation," Fico said. "I support normal, standard, friendly, and mutually beneficial relations."

But one irony is that Slovakia has been a member of the NATO alliance since 2004, and in President Putin's keynote V-Day speech, he again blasted NATO expansion and its role in Ukraine.

Brussels Pressure Failed, Slovakia’s PM Robert Fico Arrives To Meet Putin pic.twitter.com/7yroI79VJr

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"The great feat of the generation of victors inspires the soldiers carrying out the goals of the special military operation today," Putin had declared. "They are confronting an aggressive force armed and supported by the entire NATO bloc. And despite this, our heroes move forward," he said. "I firmly believe that our cause is just," he later emphasized.