Russia marks the end of World War II on May 9 with an annual military parade, and foreign leaders will attend a ceremony to mark the 81st anniversary in Moscow. 

European and NATO leaders have mostly boycotted the event as relations with Russia have plummeted since it launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. However, Slovakia has repeatedly voiced opposition toward EU attempts to support Kyiv.

Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Saturday that Latvia and Lithuania had refused to grant access to his flight to Moscow next month. Tsahkna confirmed Estonia would do the same.

All three countries made the same move last year in solidarity with Ukraine.

"Fico will once again not receive permission to use Estonian airspace for a flight to Moscow to attend the 9 May parade, an event aimed at glorifying the aggressor. We denied this last year, and the same principle applies now," Tsahkna said in a statement.

The minister added that Estonia's position is unequivocal: "No country may use our airspace to strengthen ties with Russia at a time when Russia continues to violate international norms and wage aggression against Ukraine and the security of Europe as a whole."

Estonia will not permit the use of its airspace by any state that chooses to deepen its ties with Russia.

Russia continues to violate international norms as if it were a sport, continuing its atrocities in Ukraine and threatening the security of Europe as a whole.

We must…

— Margus Tsahkna (@Tsahkna) April 19, 2026

In response, Fico said: "I will definitely find another route as I did last year when we were torpedoed by Estonia."

Estonia, EU and NATO countries follow a unified procedure for landing and flight permits for official visits. However, this does not apply when Estonian airspace is used for travel to Russia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Latvia's foreign minister Baiba Braže said the country "will not issue overflight permits for the 9 May war propaganda."

"Latvia's position is clear: as long as the Russian Federation is carrying out aggression against Ukraine, we will not facilitate participation in war propaganda events there," she wrote on X

FM @Braze_Baiba: Latvia's position is clear: as long as the Russian Federation is carrying out aggression against Ukraine, we will not facilitate participation in war propaganda events there.

Therefore, as before, we will not issue overflight permits for the 9 May war propaganda… https://t.co/Q6MITiXLR4

— Latvian MFA | #StandWithUkraine (@Latvian_MFA) April 19, 2026

Lithuania's public broadcaster LRT reported that no official request had been submitted by Fico's team.

Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha on Monday thanked the Baltic states for their stance.

"Thanks to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania for their principled position on the use of their airspace to strengthen relations with Russia," he wrote on social media.

"We urge other countries to follow our Baltic friends' lead and deny the use of their airspace as well. Let's make up for the lack of consciousness with a lack of air routes."

Thank you to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania for taking a strong stance against the use of their airspace to deepen ties with Russia.

For those who have forgotten, Russia continues to wage an aggressive war against Ukraine, posing a direct threat to Europe's security and…

— Andrii Sybiha (@andrii_sybiha) April 20, 2026

This story was updated to add comments from Andrii Sybiha and Baiba Braže.

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