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 Sunday 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."

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.

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