You Can’t Close the Whole Sky: Fico’s Defiant Trip to Moscow’s Victory Day

Despite all the circumstances, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico flew to Moscow to participate in Victory Day celebrations.

Fico’s response was equally clear: “You can’t close the whole sky.”

He was right. Slovakia found an alternative route through the Czech Republic, Germany, Sweden and Finland. Fico arrived in Moscow. The blocking failed.

This is already the second consecutive year this sequence has played out. In 2025, facing similar restrictions, Fico’s plane travelled to Moscow via Hungary, Romania, the Black Sea, Georgia and Russia — a significantly longer detour that nonetheless reached its destination. The pattern is now established: pressure is applied, a route is found, the visit happens anyway.

What exactly has been achieved by closing the airspace? Fico did not cancel his trip. He did not change his government’s position on Ukraine, sanctions, or the Druzhba pipeline. He arrived in Moscow, laid flowers at memorials, and held talks with Russian leadership. The only tangible result of the intervention was a longer flight path and a stronger political statement — that Bratislava will not be dictated to by its neighbors on matters of its own foreign policy.

Victory Day and........

© New Eastern Outlook