- The planned visit of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to Slovakia is cancelled.
- Korčok claims that Fico’s trip to Moscow is incompatible with Merz’s visit.
- German Chancellor Merz publicly criticized Fico’s presence at the celebrations in Moscow.
The planned visit of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to Slovakia will not take place, according to the vice-chairman of the PS and former head of Slovak diplomacy Ivan Korčok. According to him, the reason is the trip of the Prime Minister of the SR Robert Fico (Smer-SD) to Moscow last week. Korčok informed about it at Thursday’s press conference. At the same time, he called on the government to comment on the situation.
“Nothing will come of the announced visit of Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz to Slovakia. This visit will not take place,” declared Korčok. He also pointed to the Prime Minister’s statements and his visit to Moscow last week on the occasion of the Victory Day celebrations, for which Merz criticized him.
Korčok claims that it became clear on the German side that Fico’s trip to Moscow was incompatible with the planned visit of the German chancellor. “The Prime Minister deliberately chose Russian President Vladimir Putin over German Chancellor Friedrich Merz,” he said. He also criticized that the Slovak diplomacy and the Slovak government are silent about the non-implementation of Merz’s visit to Slovakia. As he pointed out, the Slovak side repeatedly communicated and confirmed the visit, even though the German side never confirmed it.
Prime Minister Fico announced on Saturday (May 9) during his return from Moscow that Merz’s visit to Slovakia is planned for May 29. The German chancellor criticized Fico’s presence in Moscow on Saturday at the Victory Day celebrations, which commemorate the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. “Robert Fico knows we don’t agree here. I’m very sorry and we will talk to him this day in Moscow,” Merz said at a joint press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Stockholm.
