The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Skopje has confirmed to Radio Free Europe that Northern Macedonia has rejected the request of the Embassy of the Russian Federation for the use of the airspace of this country for the flight of the plane of the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who has announced he would visit Belgrade on Monday.
The request of the Russian Embassy was made despite the fact that Northern Macedonia on February 28 imposed air sanctions on Russia, after the occupation of Ukraine on February 24.
Lavrov, along with Russian President Vladimir Putin, are on the sanctions list of many Western states over the invasion of Ukraine. The only countries where they can travel to Europe are Belarus, Moldova, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Meanwhile, the Government of Kosovo, which has imposed sanctions on Russia, has supported the closure of Kosovo airspace for Russian aircraft, but the NATO mission in Kosovo, KFOR, has said that Kosovo airspace will remain open. .
Lavrov’s visit to Serbia is announced for June 6th and 7th.
Media in Serbia have reported that Montenegro and Bulgaria have also banned the flight of Lavrov’s plane into their airspace. Both countries have also imposed sanctions on Russia.
As Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marija Zaharova said on June 3, Lavrov is scheduled to meet with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic and Parliament Speaker Ivica Dacic. She also said that Lavrov is expected to meet with the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Porfirije.
But Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on June 2 that the situation surrounding the announced visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Belgrade was becoming more complicated.
During his stay in Bratislava, Vucic told Pink Television that he was not ready to give more details.
“It is getting complicated, obviously it is getting complicated. I’m not ready to talk about it yet, but yes – it ‘s getting complicated. “The question is how it will come … we will see,” Vucic added.
Serbian media also reported that Serbian Prime Minister Ana Bernabic said on Sunday that the situation regarding Lavrov’s visit to Belgrade was “extremely complicated” and that Vucic was dealing with the logistics of the Russian chief diplomat’s trip.
The announcement of Lavrov’s visit has not yet been officially announced in Serbia, while the website of the President of Serbia states that Aleksandar Vuiqiiq will be in Northern Macedonia from June 7 to 8, where he will attend the meeting of the initiative. regional “Open Balkans”.
However, Lavrov said on June 4th that during his visit to Belgrade, he would discuss “all topics of interest to Serbian friends” with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
