Politics, Russia-Ukraine War

Top Russian diplomat criticizes closure of European airspace for his flight to Serbia

Sergey Lavrov says Serbian foreign minister to visit Russia instead in near future

Elena Teslova  | 06.06.2022 - Update : 07.06.2022
Top Russian diplomat criticizes closure of European airspace for his flight to Serbia

MOSCOW

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that the countries that closed their airspace for his flight to Belgrade, wanted to show their "servility" to the EU, to prevent him from voicing Moscow's position in a European country.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, on the occasion of the forced cancellation of his visit to Belgrade, Lavrov said "the unthinkable" happened and that Serbia was deprived of the right to conduct international policy.

"This is another very clear and instructive demonstration of how far NATO and the European Union can go in using the most low-grade methods of influencing those who are guided by national interests and are not ready to sacrifice their principles, their dignity for the sake of the very rules that the West imposes instead of international law," he said.

No one will be able to destroy Russia's relations with Serbia "no matter what," Lavrov stressed, adding that he invited his Serbian counterpart to visit Moscow soon.

"We have invited Nikola Selakovic, the (Serbian) foreign minister, to visit Russia in the very near future."

Lavrov stressed that he hopes that the European countries will not close their airspace for the Serbian foreign minister.

The EU also did not want Russia to express support for Belgrade's initiative to implement the Open Balkans project to improve relations among all countries of the region, the minister said.

"Now it is obvious to all of us that Brussels, namely NATO and the EU, want to turn the Balkans into their project called 'Closed Balkans.' At least, it is difficult to draw other conclusions against the background of what we are seeing now," he said.

Lavrov also said the forced cancellation of his visit to Serbia fits the European policy to hush up the truth, and that the European politicians are trying to solve their electoral problems by deceiving their voters.

The situation also showed that the purpose of NATO to invite some countries like Bulgaria and Montenegro to the alliance is "to punish the unwanted," he continued.

About Russia's possible response, Lavrov said Moscow will never take action that would complicate its ties with Serbia.

According to Lavrov, the practice of closing airspace for his flights may continue.

Earlier, the Serbian daily Vecernje novosti reported that Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and Montenegro refused to provide an air corridor for the plane of Lavrov, who was going to visit Belgrade. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed that Lavrov was denied passage through the airspace of the countries surrounding Serbia.

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