published6. June 2022, 04:51
The Russian Foreign Minister actually wanted to meet the Serbian President on Monday. But Serbia’s three neighboring countries have closed the airspace for Sergei Lavrov’s plane.
Lavrov wanted to meet Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
AFP / Elvis Barukcic
The Serbian President agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) to extend Russian gas supplies.
AFP
According to information from Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov cannot travel to Serbia on a planned two-day visit this Monday due to a lack of a flight permit. According to the Russian agency Interfax, a high-ranking ministry official confirmed a corresponding Serbian media report on Sunday, according to which Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro had not given permission for the Russian government aircraft to fly over.
Lavrov is subject to Western sanctions over Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. In addition, European airspace is closed to Russian aircraft. The minister wanted to meet with the Serbian leadership to talk about supplying the country with Russian energy, for example.
When asked whether the visit had been canceled, the ministry official replied: “Diplomacy has not yet acquired the ability to beam.” Serbian media had previously reported on the cancellation of Lavrov’s visit to Belgrade because there was no overflight permit. On Sunday, Lavrov surprisingly invited foreign journalists to a press conference this Monday.
Serbia wants to join the EU
According to previous plans in Serbia, Lavrov is to meet President Aleksandar Vucic, his counterpart Nikola Selakovic and the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Porfirye, before continuing to Turkey on Tuesday.
Brnabic said Vucic had held talks “with representatives of Russia, the United States, Germany and the EU” in preparation for Lavrov’s visit. Serbia is applying for EU membership, but has traditionally maintained good relations with Russia.
While the EU is heading towards a significant reduction in Russian energy supplies in response to the Ukraine war and recently agreed on a far-reaching oil embargo against Russia, Serbia continues to rely on close cooperation with Russia in this area.
«Best oil deal in Europe»
In May, Vucic agreed in a telephone call with Krem boss Vladimir Putin to extend Russian gas supplies by three years at low prices. It was “by far the best deal in Europe,” said the Serbian President at the time.
Serbia is almost entirely dependent on Russian energy supplies and imports around six million cubic meters of gas from Russia every day. Moscow also owns a majority stake in the Serbian oil and gas company NIS.
Serbia has condemned the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. At the same time, however, Belgrade does not want to break with Moscow and refuses to join the EU sanctions against Russia.
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(DPA/AFP/chk)