BRATISLAVA – Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico has been denied permission to use the airspace of Latvia and Lithuania for his upcoming flight to Moscow to attend the May 9 celebrations marking the end of World War II.
The refusal by the Baltic states highlights the deepening diplomatic fracture within the European Union as member states increasingly use sovereign airspace restrictions to signal geopolitical disapproval, even toward fellow EU leaders.
The announcement came via a video address posted by Fico on Facebook, in which the Slovak leader expressed frustration over what he described as a blockade by his EU counterparts.
“Lithuania and Latvia have already informed us that they will not allow the flight to Moscow to cross their territory,” Fico stated.
The denial of overflight rights is a rare and unusually sharp diplomatic gesture between EU member states, which typically operate under a framework of open skies and mutual cooperation governed by national sovereignty and, for civil traffic, the rules of the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation. While each state retains full control over its own airspace, such restrictions are seldom applied to the official travel of sitting EU heads of government. Fico questioned the legality and logic of the restriction, asking, “Why do European Union (EU) member states not allow the prime minister of another EU member state to fly over their territories?”
A Pattern of Baltic Resistance
The restriction is not an isolated incident, but rather the latest in a series of maneuvers by the Baltic states to isolate leaders who maintain close ties with the Kremlin. Fico noted that he had faced similar obstacles during previous attempts to visit Russia.
“I will definitely find another route, like I did last year when we were torpedoed by Estonia,” Fico added.
During the previous year’s Victory Day commemorations, Estonia similarly blocked the Slovak Prime Minister’s flight path. This forced Fico to undertake a significant detour, rerouting his aircraft over Hungary, Romania, and the Black Sea to reach the Russian capital.
The Baltic states have applied similar pressures to other non-EU officials. Last year, the aircraft of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić also faced mandatory route changes when attempting to fly through the region toward Moscow, underscoring the Baltics’ readiness to use airspace control as a tool of foreign policy.
Officials in Riga, Vilnius, and Tallinn have repeatedly argued that such measures are consistent with their hard‑line stance on Russia following the full‑scale invasion of Ukraine, and with the latitude EU capitals retain to impose national restrictions even while bound by common aviation and transport frameworks.
The Symbolism of May 9
The tension surrounding the flight centers on the profound disagreement over the meaning of the May 9 celebrations. While Russia frames the day as a celebration of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany, the Baltic states-which experienced decades of Soviet occupation-often view the holiday as a celebration of imperial conquest and the start, rather than the end, of their loss of sovereignty.
Since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia have adopted some of the most stringent policies in Europe regarding Russian influence, banning or severely restricting Soviet‑era symbols and public displays associated with Moscow’s wartime narrative. In that context, any high-level EU official’s participation in Moscow’s festivities is seen in the Baltic capitals as a legitimization of Vladimir Putin’s government and its use of historical memory for contemporary political purposes.
“Lithuania and Latvia have already informed us that they will not allow the flight to Moscow to cross their territory,” Fico said.
EU Internal Divisions
The airspace dispute underscores the isolation of Robert Fico and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán within the European Council. Both leaders have emerged as the primary critics of the EU’s sanctions regime against Russia and have frequently called for a ceasefire in Ukraine that would likely involve territorial concessions by Kyiv, putting them at odds with the prevailing position among other EU governments.
Their stance has repeatedly complicated decision‑making in Brussels, where major measures on Russia-such as sanctions packages and financial assistance for Ukraine-require unanimity among member states under the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy. The latest Baltic move adds a new layer of friction, bringing technical aviation decisions into a broader struggle over the bloc’s strategic posture toward Moscow.
The refusal of overflight permits by the Baltics represents a shift from traditional diplomatic protests and statements to the use of technical and sovereign barriers to impede the movement of political rivals within the bloc. It also raises questions about how far individual member states are willing to go in using national levers to signal disapproval of fellow EU leaders’ foreign-policy choices, and whether such tactics could invite calls for clearer guidance from EU institutions on the treatment of official travel.
Slovak officials have indicated that the Prime Minister will proceed with his trip to Moscow despite the detours, framing the visit as part of Bratislava’s effort to keep channels of dialogue with Russia open. The Slovak government has not officially commented on whether it will file a formal complaint with the European Commission regarding the breach of expected EU diplomatic norms, or seek clarification on how national airspace decisions intersect with broader EU commitments to the free movement of officials and coordinated external policy.
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