Bulgaria agrees to open airspace for Russian Foreign Minister's plane

This was reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria.

"Bulgaria has authorized the flight of the Special Aviation Unit 'Russia' through the airspace of the Republic of Bulgaria to transport the delegation to participate in the international forum," the statement reads.

It is noted that the Russian Foreign Minister received a request for diplomatic permission to fly from North Macedonia, the OSCE chair and organizer of the 30th meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council. The permit is temporary and will be valid for three hours to 72 hours after the scheduled date and time of the flight.

Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry emphasizes that this permit was granted for Lavrov's participation in the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in Skopje and falls under the exceptions to the EU sanctions regime."This permit does not apply to members of his delegation, who are also sanctioned persons under current EU legislation, as explicitly stated in the Bulgarian side's response note," the agency said.

• In June 2022, three countries of the Balkan Peninsula-Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and Montenegro-refused to provide their airspace for Sergei Lavrov's plane. The Russian Foreign Minister blamed NATO for this.