Bulgaria makes 'stupid and absurd' decision to reroute plane with Russian officials

The Bulgarian authorities made a stupid and absurd decision when they did not let a government flight with official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova on board fly to North Macedonia, Kremlin's official spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, TASS reports.

"There is hardly any explanation to this position of the Bulgarian authorities. […] This is an absolutely absurd and, one might even say, stupid position,” he stated.

Peskov also urged the Bulgarian government to try with all its might to maintain sobriety in its decisions.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov flew to the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in North Macedonia via Greece, because Foreign Ministry official Maria Zakharova was flying with him.

The airplane to Skopje, where the event is going to take place, was originally going to fly through Bulgarian airspace. However, the Bulgarian authorities ordered the plane to change its flight course because Sofia opened the sky only for Lavrov and there was no permission issued for Zakharova.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived at the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in North Macedonia on November 30 at night. An official representative of the department said that many countries requested bilateral and multilateral meetings with Lavrov on the sidelines of the summit.

Zakharova ridicules decision of Bulgarian authorities

"The airplane can fly over Bulgaria, but Maria Zakharova can not fly on board the plane. Nothing was said about whether I could fly over Bulgaria without an airplane or whether it was possible to use outer space for this," Maria Zakharova wrote.

Air traffic rules are regulated by the 1944 Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation. The document explains that the concept of a country's territory includes land within its borders and adjacent waters. Airspace is not included in this definition.

In this regard, if a person who was barred from entering the territory of the European Union is flying on board a non-stop flight, EU sanctions shall not affect this flight, Maria Zakharova added.

"Who gave the right to illiterate officials in Sofia to disgrace the Bulgarian people?" she wondered.