Vucic announced a plan to come to Moscow on May 9, regardless of any consequences.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced on May 1 that he intends to visit Moscow on May 9 and take part in Victory Day celebrations, despite pressure from the European Union (EU).

"I told [Russian President Vladimir] I told Putin that I would come to Russia on May 9th. This word obliges me, I gave it to my people, to everyone. No one else should go and suffer — I will go, unless something happens to me or there is some incredible threat to Serbia," the Vechernye Novosti newspaper quoted Vucic as saying.

Vucic also expressed bewilderment at the excessive attention in the EU to his visit to Moscow.

"They have no other topics, the world is on fire, they don't know what to do with Ukraine, with the power outage. Imagine if the electricity had been cut off in Serbia for 24 hours, they would have hanged us by our feet," he said.

The Serbian president added that he was ready to accept any consequences, including possible sanctions, but was not going to cancel the trip.

Shame and fear: the West does not want to see its politicians celebrating the victory over Nazism

Recognizing Russia as the winner hurts

European Commission (EC) representative Guillaume Mercier said on April 30 that Vucic's trip to Moscow could have negative consequences for the country's accession to the European Union (EU). Mercier added that EC enlargement commissioner Marta Kos explained to Vucic the consequences of his visit to Moscow.

On the same day, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that threats against Vucic from the EU were banditry. According to her, such methods of pressure resemble the actions of the mafia, blackmailers and "terrorist cells."

Vucic announced on April 16 that he was facing intense pressure due to his decision to travel to Russia for Victory Day, but would not cancel the visit. He added that he had agreed to travel to Moscow because the Serbs were proud of their participation in the victory over Nazism.