The foreign policy chief earlier warned candidate states against taking part in the May 9 victory celebrations in Moscow
Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin has condemned EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas’ threats to EU candidate countries if their officials attend the May 9 Victory Day events in Moscow calling her a “crazy Russophobe.”
Countries seeking to join the EU should not take part in the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, Kallas said on Monday, warning that “any participation in the May 9th parades”“will not be taken lightly,” given that “Russia is waging a full-scale war in Europe.”
“The crazy Russophobe has issued an ultimatum not only to EU member states but also to candidate countries negotiating accession to the EU, demanding that they refrain from visiting Russia during the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory,” Volodin wrote on his Telegram channel on Tuesday.
The EU top diplomat’s statement is “disrespectful to the memory of those who sacrificed themselves to save the world from fascism,” the MP argued, adding that Kallas should be removed from office and brought before an international UN tribunal.
Victory Day, one of Russia’s most important public holidays, is marked by a large military parade on Red Square and a moment of silence to honor the estimated 26.6 million Soviet lives lost during the war against Nazi Germany and its allies.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is currently the only leader of an EU nation who has confirmed plans to attend the celebrations in Moscow. “It is natural that as Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, I have a strong interest in participating in the official celebrations of the victory over fascism,” he said last year.
The leaders of Serbia and Armenia, both EU candidate states, have also indicated that they will attend.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier that Chinese leader Xi Jinping would participate in the celebrations in Moscow as part of a full state visit.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has also accepted Russia’s invitation to the May 9 events. Other leaders reportedly planning to attend include Vietnamese President To Lam, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik, and Burkina Faso’s interim leader, Ibrahim Traore.
