SHOTLIST: ZAGREB, CROTIA (APR. 16, 2025) (ANADOLU - ACCESS - ALL) 1. CROTIAN, SLOVAK AND EU FLAGS WAVING (TWO SHOTS) 2. SLOVAK PRIME MINISTER ROBERT FICO ARRIVING 3. VARIOUS OF OFFICIAL WELCOMING CEREMONY FOR FICO / CROTIAN PRIME MINISTER ANDREJ PLENKOVIC GREETING FICO / NATIONAL ANTHEMS 4. FICO SIGNING MINISTRY'S SPECIAL BOOK AND POSING FOR CAMERAS (TWO SHOTS) 5. FICO AND PLENKOVIC POSING FOR CAMERAS 6. FICO AND PLENKOVIC PREPARING FOR PRESS CONFERENCE 7. VARIOUS OF FICO SPEAKING AT PRESS CONFERENCE 8. VARIOUS OF PLENKOVIC SPEAKING AT PRESS CONFERENCE 9. FICO AND PLENKOVIC LEAVING FROM PRESS CONFERENCEZAGREB, CROTIA - APR. 16: Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced during an official visit to Zagreb, Croatia, that he will attend the May 9 Victory Day celebrations in Russia, despite warnings from European Union officials. Fico was welcomed by Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic with an official ceremony upon his arrival in the capital. Speaking at a joint press conference following the delegation meetings, Fico stated that he and Plenkovic had different views on the war between Russia and Ukraine. "Ms. Kallas’s words are disrespectful, and I strongly object to them,” Fico said on X, after Kallas’s warning of "serious consequences" for any EU leader attending the annual military parade commemorating the 1945 victory over Nazi Germany. Fico said he would travel to Moscow. "I will go to Moscow to pay tribute to the thousands of Red Army soldiers who died liberating Slovakia, as well as to the millions of other victims of Nazi terror," Fico said, adding that he also honors Allied forces such as RAF pilots and those who died during the Normandy landings. "Ms. Kallas, I would like to inform you that I am the legitimate Prime Minister of Slovakia – a sovereign country. No one can dictate to me where I can or cannot travel," he said. He said he was unsure if the warning was a "form of blackmail or a signal" that he will be punished upon his return. "I don’t know. But I do know that the year is 2025, not 1939." Fico argued that the EU official's remarks highlight a broader need to reassess the 27-member bloc's democratic principles. "Ms. Kallas’s warning confirms that we need a discussion within the EU about the essence of democracy,” he wrote, referencing the annulled Romanian presidential election results in December, the conviction and five-year ban on French opposition leader Marine Le Pen, and "Maidans," protest movements in Georgia and Serbia allegedly backed by the West. He also accused Brussels of ignoring the criminalization of opposition in Slovakia. Kallas, a former Estonian premier and one of the EU’s most outspoken critics of Moscow, has urged leaders to mark May 9 by visiting Kyiv instead. "I’ve called all the member states, but also representatives of the institutions, to visit Kyiv as much as possible to show really our solidarity and that we are with Ukraine," she said.