The spokeswoman for the European External Action Service, Anitta Hipper, once again criticised Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico’s visit to Moscow for the 9 May celebrations, following his comments on the High Representative of the Union Kaja Kallas’ remarks.
“Russia was exploiting the end of the Second World War celebrations for propaganda and justification for full scale invasion of Ukraine. So from our side, we should always refrain from giving legitimacy to Russia’s war of aggression and stay united”, stressed Ms Hipper. “You are judged by the company you keep”, she added.
In a letter to Ms Kallas, Robert Fico said that the High Representative claimed that he was “on the wrong side of history” or making “other equally profound geopolitical remarks”. He explained that he was in Moscow to “honour the memory of more than 60,000 Red Army soldiers who died liberating Slovakia” and did not understand the link with the current international situation.
“As a senior official of the European Commission, you have absolutely no authority to criticise a sovereign prime minister of a sovereign country who takes a constructive approach to all European issues”, he added, warning that he did not agree with the “policy of the new iron curtain” on which Ms Kallas was “working so hard on”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)