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Bulgaria to open airspace for special flight taking Russian delegation to OSCE meeting

The move came in response to a relevant request from the Foreign Ministry of North Macedonia, the OSCE’s 2023 chair and host of the 30th OSCE ministerial council in Skopje

SOFIA, November 28. /TASS/. Sofia has authorized the overflight through Bulgarian airspace of a special Russian flight that will take Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to a meeting later this week of the ministerial council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Skopje, capital of North Macedonia, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"The diplomatic authorization for the flight is temporary and will be valid three hours prior and 72 hours from the scheduled date and flight time. This authorization would enable Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to attend the OSCE ministerial meeting in Skopje and is subject to an EU sanctions waiver," the Bulgarian diplomatic agency said. However, those members of Lavrov’s delegation who have been sanctioned by the EU will not be covered, the ministry cautioned.

The move came in response to a relevant request from the Foreign Ministry of North Macedonia, the OSCE’s 2023 chair and host of the 30th OSCE ministerial council in Skopje.

Speaking at the Primakov Readings forum on Monday, Lavrov said that the Russian delegation would take part in the OSCE event in Skopje if Bulgaria made good on its promise to open its airspace to Russian aircraft.

The OSCE ministerial meeting will be held in Skopje from November 30 through December 1. The OSCE foreign ministers are expected to decide on candidates for the future chairmanship of the organization.

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