Russian minister's visit canceled after overflight refusal
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) - Serbia and Russia on Monday formally confirmed that a planned visit by Russia's foreign minister to the Balkan country will not take place, with Moscow accusing the West of preventing the trip.
The announcement followed reports that Serbia's neighbors, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro had refused to allow Sergey Lavrov's plane to fly through their airspace to reach Serbia.
'œAn unthinkable thing has happened,'ť Lavrov said during an online news conference on Monday. 'œA sovereign state has been deprived of its right to conduct foreign policies. The international activities of Serbia on the Russian track have been blocked.'ť
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said earlier on Monday that Russia's ambassador to Serbia had met with him and informed him of the reasons why Lavrov could not come.
Vucic offered no details, but the pro-Russian Vecernje Novosti daily carried photos of what it said were official documents rejecting the overflights.
Lavrov blamed NATO countries for engineering the flight ban - Montenegro, Bulgaria and North Macedonia are all members of NATO - noting that the action showed again that the main purpose of the alliance expansion is to try to isolate Russia.
He said the West has trampled on the principle of a free choice of foreign policy partners.
'œFrom the Western viewpoint, Serbia mustn't have any choice, any freedom in choosing its partners,'ť he said. 'œThe West clearly shows that it would use any base means to apply pressure."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov deplored what what he described as 'œhostile actions," but said this "won't significantly hamper the continuation of our country's contacts with friendly countries like Serbia.'ť
Serbia has maintained friendly relations with Russia despite the war in Ukraine, refusing to join sanctions against Moscow. Many in Serbia view the fellow-Slavic nation as a close ally and Moscow has backed Serbia in its effort to retain its claim on Kosovo.
In Belgrade, Serbia's pro-Russian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin expressed 'œdeep regret'ť that a 'œgreat and proven'ť friend of Serbia could not come. Vulin added that 'œSerbia is proud that it is not part of anti-Russian hysteria, and the countries that are (part of it) will have time to be ashamed.'ť
Serbia also is fully dependent on Russian gas. Vucic recently talked to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone to arrange a new deal on gas supplies for the next three years.
Analyst Slobodan Stupar described Lavrov's attempted visit to Belgrade as a 'œshow'ť that would have been used by Moscow to further vilify the West.
'œI believe the Russians invited themselves'ť to Serbia, Stupar told The Associated Press. 'œThey are terribly isolated. ... They can now say that Europe and the world are not democratic and won't allow a simple flyover.'ť
Analysts in Belgrade have pointed out that Lavrov's visit would further erode Serbia's standing in the West after Belgrade rejected imposing sanctions on Moscow.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected in the region later this week.
Stupar said that Vucic has placed himself 'œin between'ť Russia and the West, by attempting to maintain ties with Moscow while Serbia is seeking membership in the European Union at the same time.
'œThat is the worst possible position one can imagine,'ť Stupar said.