Bulgaria, Montenegro, North Macedonia, close airspace to Lavrov’s airplane

Bulgaria, Montenegro and North Macedonia on June 6 did not open their airspace to a flight to Serbia with Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov.

The Bulgarian foreign ministry explained that it did not give diplomatic permission for the Russian flight over Bulgarian territory because Lavrov is included in the list of persons subject to restrictions by the EU. The Kremlin described the decision as a hostile act. Serbia's President, Aleksandar Vučić, will make an official statement on the case tonight.

Bulgaria's airspace has been closed to Russian Federation aircraft since late February, by decision of EU countries, because of the invasion in Ukraine. Moscow reacted strongly. At a special press conference, Lavrov himself called the refusals "unprecedented." In his words, this deprives Serbia, which is a sovereign state, "of its right to conduct foreign policy".

"The West has made it clear that it does not hesitate to use any inappropriate methods to maintain pressure. We have seen such hypocrisy many times before, including during the tragic bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 by those who thought they had won the Cold War and had been given the right to build the world on their own model," Sergey Lavrov said.

According to the minister, the three countries will explain that they received orders from the European Union and NATO, and the two organisations will say that the countries made the decisions themselves. The Kremlin described the decisions by Sofia, Skopje and Podgorica as "hostile actions".

Federation Council Vice President, Konstantin Kosachov, said a firm reaction was needed. The head of Roskosmos, for his part, threatened with the latest ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

"What is Sarmat good at?" It won't seek consent to fly from the cowardly Bulgarians, the spiteful Romanians and the Montenegrins who betrayed our common history. As well as from the Swedes," Dmitry Rogozin tweeted.

After assuring that no one would destroy relations between Moscow and Belgrade, Sergey Lavrov announced that he had invited the Serbian foreign minister to Moscow and hoped his plane would not be stopped.

Belgrade regrets the visit was scuppered. Prime Minister Ana Brnabić called the situation "extremely complicated". Serbia's Minister of Interior said in a statement:

"Those who prevented Sergey Lavrov's arrival do not want peace, they dream of Russia's defeat."

Images by BGNES