MOSCOW, November 30./TASS/. Bulgaria’s refusal to open its airspace to a Russian plane carrying Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova did not stop the Russian delegation from taking part in the OSCE ministerial meeting.
Asked what impact the Bulgarian airspace ban had on the Russian delegation, Zakharova told Rossiya-24 TV: "Well, only the route."
The spokeswoman said that the Bulgarian authorities had no legal grounds to ban her from being on board the plane, which was flying non-stop across the country's airspace. "There is no logic or law behind this, none. But once again I say, what will happen next? I mean, they have to ask themselves that question. Well, apparently, in the heat of this Russophobia it is no longer about asking questions," she said.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in North Macedonia’s capital of Skopje for an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) meeting. His plane traveled through Greece even though the flight had initially been expected to pass through Bulgaria’s airspace. However, Sofia refused to open its airspace to the top Russian diplomat’s aircraft because Zakharova was onboard. The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman slammed Bulgaria’s decision as "dangerous stupidity." According to her, for the first time in history, a government banned a person onboard a plane instead of the plane, because according to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry’s statement, the aircraft had permission to cross the country’s airspace.