Serbia Breaks Ranks With EU on Moscow Parade

The Serbian Defence Ministry on Monday said that President Nikolic had decided that the Serbian Army will take part in the Victory Day Parade in Red Square in Moscow on May 9, marking the 70th anniversary of the capitulation of Nazi Germany in 1945.

Amid tensions over the conflict in Ukraine, some Western leaders have decided not to attend, including America's Barack Obama and Britain's David Cameron. Leaders of France, Poland and the Baltic states are also not going.

After months of conflicting reports about whether he would accept an invitation from Russian officials, Montenegro's President, Filip Vujanovic, on Tuesday clarified that he would not attend the May 9 parade in Moscow.

Vujanovic will instead participate in the domestic celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Victory over Fascism in the capital Podgorica, also on May 9.

Angela Merkel of Germany will not attend the parade but will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier together with Russian President Vladimir Putin a day later.

Alexander Chepurin, Russian ambassador to Serbia, welcomed Nikolic's decision, stating that relations between Serbia and Russia should not depend on "variable political circumstances or interests."

He stated the allied victory in WW2 was not something that humanity should decide to remember or forget, depending on circumstances.

Nikolic announced in March that he planned to attend the parade, drawing criticism from Eduard Kukan, a European Parliamentarian from Slovakia and chairman of the EU-Serbia Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee.

Kukan told the daily newspaper Blic on March 20 that that Nikolic should limit his visit to Moscow to laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the...