The plane with Lavrov on board had to change its route. “Personal reason

The plane with Sergey Lavrov on board on its way to Skopje had to change its route. It was about the presence of Maria Zakharova in the machine.

The 30th meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council will take place in Skopje from Thursday to Friday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in the North Macedonian capital for the OSCE ministerial meeting via Greece, and not via Bulgaria. As reported by the Kremlin’s TASS agency, this is related to Sofia’s decision that Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who accompanied Lavrov, was not included in the flight permit.

The plane flew over Turkey and Greece, although the Russian Foreign Ministry plane was initially expected to fly over Bulgaria. Previously, North Macedonia, currently chairman of the OSCE, requested permission to fly.

“As TASS has learned, the Bulgarian side has not agreed to the flight of the plane of the Foreign Minister of Russia if the spokeswoman of the Russian diplomatic mission, Maria Zakharova, is on board,” the agency reported. TASS claims to have an internal note from the Bulgarian government stating that the authorization for the flight of the Russian delegation “does not apply to the Director of the Department of Information and Press of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, those on the sanctions list.”

Sanctions apply, but…

Earlier this week, a European Commission spokesperson said that Sergei Lavrov is “of course” subject to sanctions, but “exceptions” to the restrictions are possible and the EU will not object if North Macedonian authorities allow the plane from Lavrov flies through their airspace.

The foreign ministers of Ukraine and four EU countries – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland – boycotted the meeting in Skopje due to the presence of Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Last year Poland hosted the OSCE meeting. Warsaw refused to allow the Russian delegation onto its territory, which greatly angered the Kremlin.

Source: Do Rzeczy

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