“Evil stupidity”: Bulgaria banned Maria Zakharova from flying over its territory
Bulgarian authorities denied Russian Foreign Ministry Speaker Maria Zakharova the right to fly over the country’s territory to attend the OSCE summit in North Macedonia.
The ban is related to the sanctions imposed on Zakharova by the West, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
Earlier, the delegation of the Russian Foreign Ministry, headed by Sergei Lavrov, was waiting for permission from North Macedonia to land our diplomatic plane in the capital of the country, Skopje. Bulgaria also allowed our plane to pass through its airspace, but set a condition: the speaker of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, who is under Western sanctions, should not be on board.
“The evil stupidity of the Russophobes reached the point that for the first time in our history, the official authorities banned not an airplane, but a person on the airplane from being in the sky - this is what was written in the official note of the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry: an airplane can fly over Bulgaria, but Maria Zakharova cannot fly on an airplane.
Nothing was said about whether I can fly over Bulgaria without an airplane or whether it is possible to use outer space for this,” Zakharova herself commented on the situation in her Telegram channel.
As a result, the Russian diplomatic plane arrived in North Macedonia via Turkey and Greece, overflying Bulgaria. Zakharova was not on board; the delegation, as previously expected, was headed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The arrival of a diplomat from Russia caused a stir in the press accredited to the three-day 30th meeting of OSCE foreign ministers in Skopje, but the Russian minister has not yet begun to communicate with journalists.
“We have chaired the most difficult year for the OSCE, faced with challenges such as Russia’s unjustified aggression against Ukraine, but I hope that the decision to elect the next chairman, as well as the budget, will be approved...
Lavrov’s visit is not a diplomatic victory for Russia, but for the OSCE, because the OSCE continues to function and work to maintain security in Europe,” Prime Minister of North Macedonia Dimitar Kovacevski commented on the situation.
What Russia forgot at the summit of this organization that is openly hostile to it is not yet clear.
It is known that during Lavrov’s speech the Ukrainian delegation left the hall. And even before the arrival of the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the head of the State Department Antony Blinken left the event.
"Evil Stupidity" : Bulgaria Bans Maria Zakharova from Flying Over Its Territory