The spectacle of a Foreign Minister being prevented from flying to an arranged meeting with a head of state was on display yesterday. The airplane to bring Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Minister, to Serbia to conclude an energy deal was denied travel through the airspace of North Macedonia, Montenegro and Bulgaria.
Earlier on June 5, Lavrov had explained on Serbian television that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Russian President Vladimir Putin had reached an agreement in principle on gas supply arrangements. Further, Lavrov had said that he would discuss all matters of interest to Serbia with President Vučić, that Russia would like to hear Serbia’s concerns, and that it would be “very interesting to hear what they think about the EU’s mediating role.”
Evidently, the EU mediated. As Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed: “The countries bordering Serbia have closed the only air route to the aircraft of Sergey Lavrov who was to depart for Serbia. The Russian delegation was scheduled to hold talks in Belgrade, while the EU and NATO member-countries have closed their airspace.” She spoke late on June 5, in a broadcast of Italy’s La7 television channel.
Already on June 2, Serbian President Vučić expressed his concern over the pressures exerted upon his country, a candidate for EU membership: “It is getting complicated. I am not yet prepared to speak about it, but – yes, it is getting complicated … the question is how he will arrive … we shall see.”
Serbia is one of the few European countries, in or out of the EU, which has refused to go along with the sanctions. One can only assume that this move was in line with EU Commission airspace sanctions against Russian aircraft.
