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Orange Wang

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has confirmed he will attend China’s World War II commemorations next month, making him the first EU leader to publicly announce his plans to be at the event, which will feature a military parade in Tiananmen Square.
“Apparently, I will visit China again on the occasion of the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II,” Fico said in a video posted on his private social media account on Sunday.
“I would like to use this visit to confirm joint economic projects and intentions.”
Fico is the first leader of a Nato member state to confirm attendance at the commemoration.

His comes as Brussels and Beijing struggle to bridge their broad political divide, with the two parties failing to make any major progress at a summit last month.
Like his Central European counterpart, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Fico has been widely seen as an outlier on foreign policy among fellow EU politicians, given his moves to forge better ties with China and to challenge the 27-member bloc’s approach on Russia.
If it goes ahead, Fico’s China trip would be his second to Beijing in less than a year and would set the stage for his third meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping since November.
The two leaders last met in May in Moscow on the sidelines of Russia’s Victory Day celebrations, where Fico was also the only leader from the European Union and the transatlantic security alliance present.
Xi said China hoped Slovakia would play a “constructive” role in promoting the development of China-EU relations, while Fico said that deepening the strategic partnership with Beijing was among the top priorities of Bratislava’s foreign policy, according to a Chinese statement after the meeting.
During their talks in November in Beijing, Fico said Slovakia was ready to join a group launched by China and Brazil at the United Nations to mediate an end to the war in Ukraine.
China announced two months ago that its military parade would take place on September 3, as part of events marking the 80th anniversary of the day that China marks as its triumph over the Japanese invasion and the global victory against fascism.
The event will take place a decade after the People’s Liberation Army first held a Victory Day parade. In 2015, then-Czech president Milos Zeman, a long-standing advocate of closer ties with China, was the only EU and Nato leader present.
At the meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa in Beijing two weeks ago, Xi urged them to make “the right strategic choice”.


Chinese experts have also warned that the latest trade deal between Brussels and the Trump administration may deepen the EU’s economic and security dependence on Washington.
In the video posted on Sunday, Fico characterised the American tariffs against the EU – which were reduced to 15 per cent – as “the result of European subordination and inability to behave more sovereignly” towards the US.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday that he would visit China from September 1 to 6, and that he might meet Russian President Vladimir Putin during the trip.
“I have heard that [US President Donald] Trump may also come, but I’m not sure,” Vucic said during a live stream from the Serbian state news agency Tanjug.
The Kremlin, which has confirmed Putin’s visit to Beijing in September, said last month that no plans were under way for a summit with Trump but such a meeting remained a possibility.
The symbolic impact and diplomatic risks of inviting Trump to attend next month’s parade have been debated in China over the past few weeks, but the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea in November is widely expected to be the more likely opportunity for Xi and Trump to meet in person this year.
Trump said a week ago that he was not seeking a summit with his Chinese counterpart.
“I may go to China, but it would only be at the invitation of President Xi, which has been extended,” he posted on social media.


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China-EU relations

Slovak PM Robert Fico to attend China’s WWII commemorations amid EU tensions

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico says he would like to use his September visit to Beijing “to confirm joint economic projects and intentions”. Photo: Reuters 

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico during an official visit to China in November. Photo: Xinhua

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Bulgaria’s foreign minister Svetlan Stoev (centre right) meets Jiang Yu (centre left), China’s special representative for cooperation with central and eastern European countries, in Sofia, Bulgaria on June 25. Photo: Bulgaria Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Will India’s Modi attend China’s World War II victory parade? What would it mean at home?

Troops take part in a military parade during celebrations marking 70 years of the People’s Republic of China in 2019. Commentators say Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unlikely to attend China’s World War II victory parade in September. Photo: Xinhua

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Russian President Vladimir Putin lights a candle as he visits the Naval Cathedral of Saint Nicholas in the city of Kronstadt, outside St. Petersburg during Navy Day celebration, Russia, on Sunday. Photo: AP

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President Antonio Costa (left) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (right) shake hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping (centre) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday. Photo: Xinhua

Talks on the Ukraine war at last week’s EU-China summit are said to have been open, frank and more meaningful than previous summits, though the meeting did not yield any breakthroughs. Photo: AFP

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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump in Scotland on Sunday.  Photo: AFP

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News

China

Diplomacy

Central European leader is first from the European bloc and Nato to confirm plans to be in Beijing for 80th anniversary commemoration


Central European leader is first from the European bloc and Nato to confirm plans to be in Beijing for 80th anniversary commemoration.
