The authorities of Lithuania and Latvia have banned the overflight of the plane on which Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is to travel to Moscow to attend the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the end of Victory over Fascism Day on May 9, the Serbian edition “Novosti“ reports.
The Latvian authorities have motivated their decision with the “political sensitivity of the purpose of the flight“, while the Lithuanian authorities have banned the flight due to “technical and diplomatic sensitivity“.
During Vucic's visit to Moscow, he is scheduled to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The edition recalls that Poland and Lithuania have banned the plane of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico from flying over their territory for his planned visit to Moscow on the same occasion.
Serbia is an EU candidate country, but has not joined Western sanctions against Russia, imposed over its invasion of Ukraine, although it has condemned Moscow's aggression. Vucic says that imposing sanctions is not in Serbia's national interests. The authorities in Belgrade will continue to maintain relations with Moscow after 2022, despite warnings from Brussels.
During her visit to Belgrade in late April, EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said that "the Serbian president must decide whether to go to Moscow," but also that if Vucic does go there, she will have "a much more difficult task of helping Serbia stay strongly focused on the European path," Radio Free Europe notes.