Baltic countries block Serbia's air route to Russia celebration
"Lithuania and Latvia have closed their airspace to the aircraft carrying Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić to Moscow for the Victory Day celebrations," reports Belsat. The Baltic countries made this decision due to the "political sensitivity of the flight's purpose."
On 9 May, the Russians commemorate Victory Day, marking the triumph of the Allies over Nazi Germany. They observe this a day later than the Western world because the Germans signed the act of surrender on 8 May at 11:01 PM. According to Moscow time, it was already a new day.
As we mentioned on money.pl, a month after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, this holiday had lost significance in the 1990s. However, since Vladimir Putin took power in Russia, it has been celebrated with particular grandeur. Cultural events and military parades, including the most important one in Moscow, are organised across the country.
They want to fly to Putin
Since the Russian aggression against Ukraine, mainly leaders from Central Asian states have been attending the parade in Moscow, with a delegation from Armenia and the Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko also appearing.
This year, the situation is expected to change. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico have announced their attendance. According to the Kremlin, Putin is expected to meet with a total of 29 leaders from other countries on Red Square, led by the President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping.
Some politicians, however, may face difficulties reaching Russia.
Belsat reports that "the Latvian authorities refused to allow the Serbian aircraft to fly over the country." Lithuania took the same stance. Both Baltic countries belong to the European Union and oppose supporting Putin's regime.
Meanwhile, Poland intended to close its airspace to Robert Fico. "I will tell you funny stories about how some EU member states do not want to allow the passage of a government aircraft. These matters are embarrassing," said Fico on Sunday, as quoted by WP News.
One of the countries that was reportedly set to refuse Fico passage was Poland. However, this information was denied by the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Paweł Wroński. "We did not refuse the Slovak side passage; they simply sent us incomplete documents without a note, and then, during the process, when asked to supplement them, they informed us of a change in the route," he pointed out.
Ultimately, due to the absence of formal international legal obstacles, Poland issued permission for passage through its airspace.
