Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov was forced to cancel his visit to Serbia because 3 Balkan countries closed their airspaces to planes flying in from Russia.

North Macedonia, Montenegro and Bulgaria were these 3 nations that rendered the Russian diplomat’s visit to Serbia impossible.

North Macedonia’s MFA responded to Euronews Albania by confirming that they had in fact denied a request made by the Russian Embassy to pass through Macedonian airspace.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has refused a request of the Russian Embassy for a permit to use our airspace for the flight to Belgrade. The reason for this was the fact that our government has already decided to close down our airspace to all aircraft traveling from the Russian Federation,” – said the ministry’s response.

The cancelation of Lavrov’s visit was also confirmed by the Russian MFA.

The Russian diplomat was set to arrive in Belgrade on Monday, where he would stay for 2-day visit.

Lavrov would meet with Serbian president Alexandar Vucic, the chief of diplomacy and parliament speaker, Ivica Dacic.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

• ‘Kosovo is part of Serbia’, Vucic gets sworn in
• Vucic admits to mounting pressure from the West over Kosovo
• Serbia PM refers to Kosovo bid to join CoE as ‘pinnacle of cynicism