Five MEPs will arrive in moscow for a military parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Der Spiegel reported this with reference to sources on Wednesday, May 7.
These include two German MEPs from the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance party — Michael von der Schulenburg and Ruth Firmenich. Three more MEPs, according to the publication, represent the Czech Republic, Cyprus and Slovakia. Their names are not being disclosed at this time.
According to the source, the list of foreign delegations was agreed in advance with the russian Defense Ministry. More guests were expected, but some countries refused to participate.
Leaders of several countries have already arrived in moscow for the celebrations, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, Brazilian President Lula da Silva, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh, and Equatorial Guinean President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that Estonia had not allowed his plane to fly to russia. Despite this, he confirmed his intention to be in moscow on May 9: "I am going to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and also hold four extremely important bilateral meetings."
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić arrived in moscow via Baku, but Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev himself will not take part in the parade.
Among those who canceled their visits were Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, due to the conflict with Pakistan, and Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith. In his case, COVID-19 was officially reported.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on May 6, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation recommended that the parliament call on foreign states to boycott the May 9 "victory parade" in the aggressor country of the russian federation.
On May 7, russian dictator putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that temporary restrictions on mobile Internet had been introduced in moscow in connection with preparations for the May 9 celebration.
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