Vučić fell ill, Fico cancels visits before promised trip to Moscow on May 9

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic suddenly fell ill, and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico began canceling previously planned visits, raising questions about his health after last year's assassination attempt, both of whom had previously promised to attend the parade in Moscow, UNN writes, citing Bloomberg and local media.

Serbia

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic cut short a visit to the United States on Friday after suddenly falling ill in Florida, forcing him to cancel some meetings he had scheduled during his stay, state broadcaster RTS reported.

The decision to return to Serbia was made after consultations with doctors, RTS said, without providing further details. Calls to Vucic's office in Belgrade went unanswered after hours on Saturday, Bloomberg noted.

Vucic wanted to meet with US President Donald Trump and other senior members of the Republican Party during his visit, although, as Bloomberg writes, there was no indication that a meeting with Trump actually took place.

He arrived in Florida on Wednesday and met with Congressman Claudia Tenney, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Serbian entrepreneurs from the United States, Blic daily reported. He also met with former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.

Richard Grenell, Trump's special envoy and representative at the Serbia-Kosovo talks during the US president's first term, wrote on X that he was sorry to miss a meeting with the Serbian leader. Grenell received the Serbian Medal of Honor from Vucic in 2023.

Earlier, Vucic said he intended to travel to Russia next week for President Vladimir Putin's military parade on May 9 to mark the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. These plans have sparked controversy and pressure from the European Union, which Serbia aspires to join, against candidate countries or member states accepting the Kremlin's invitation to attend the event in Moscow's Red Square.

Slovakia

Meanwhile, in Slovakia, Prime Minister Robert Fico has "sharply canceled his work schedule" several times in recent days. He did not even go to the planned May Day celebrations, TV Noviny notes.

"The working program of the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, Robert Fico, for May 1 has been canceled," the Slovak government agency said on Wednesday afternoon without further details.

The Slovak Prime Minister also canceled his participation in the May Day celebrations in Velke Zaluzhye. "We have no information why he canceled it," comments the mayor of the municipality of Elke Zaluzhye, Milan Biro.

These are not the first such sudden changes in the Slovak Prime Minister's program. In April, he canceled a press conference and canceled a planned trip to a lecture in Britain at the last minute. Milos Zeman later revealed the reason. "Because he felt bad after the injury, after the assassination attempt," Zeman explained.

The Prime Minister's state of health is particularly questionable, the publication notes. On May 15, it will be a year since attacker Juraj Cintula shot Robert Fico. He recently admitted in parliament that he still has problems after the injuries.

If Robert Fico canceled his trip to Moscow due to his health, it would be the best thing he could do, said Matus Kostolny, editor-in-chief of the Slovak newspaper Denník N, meanwhile. According to commentator and editor of Denník E Oliver Brunovsky, the public has the right to information about Fico's health and whether he will be able to cope with his position for the money of the country's citizens.