Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico, the only leader of an EU government to attend the May 9 World War II victory parade in Moscow, remarked that “there is a huge desire to build a new Iron Curtain in various forms,” but said that Slovakia “will do everything to ensure that we can shake hands through this curtain.” He said that his attending the victory ceremony ending World War II has brought Slovakia to highest diplomatic recognition. He said Slovaks know how to stand on their own feet and the doors are always open to all countries, including the great powers of the United States, the Russian Federation, and China.
Fico reaffirmed Slovakia’s commitment to preserving Soviet memorials—and proposed erecting a monument to Marshal Ivan Konev, a Soviet commander involved in the 1945 liberation of then-Czechoslovakia.
