European Union leaders will not attend May 9th ‘Victory Day’ celebrations in Ukraine, following invitations from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Kyiv’s event this year was, in part, scheduled to clash with Russian president Vladimir Putin’s annual military parade in Moscow on the same day, in a show of diplomatic defiance.
Previously, foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas instructed her EU counterparts and their heads of state not to attend the Moscow celebrations, leaving only Slovak leader Robert Fico planning such a visit. Jonatan Vseviov, secretary-general of Estonia’s foreign affairs ministry, also warned Serbia’s president Aleksandar Vučic, saying attendance would end the Balkan country’s EU accession efforts.
Now incoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, President Emmanuel Macron, and Polish PM Donald Tusk will all be elsewhere that day. There is still scope for them to deputise by sending their foreign ministers to Lviv on May 9th.
