BELGRADE (Reuters) – Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic accused Ukraine and an unidentified EU country of being behind a sequence of hoax bomb threats towards Air Serbia planes.
Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in late February, greater than a dozen Air Serbia flights have been pressured to return to Belgrade or Moscow as a consequence of bomb threats, and Belgrade’s airport was evacuated at the very least thrice.
“Foreign (intelligence) companies of two nations are doing that. One is an EU country, and Ukraine is the one other one,” Vucic mentioned late on Sunday, with out offering proof.
In a press release, Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, dismissed Vucic’s remarks as “baseless” and “unfaithful”.
He additionally mentioned Ukraine was upset with Serbia’s refusal to hitch EU sanctions towards Russia.
“We name on Belgrade to face up for the reality and absolutely take part assist of Ukraine and in upholding the values on which united democratic Europe is based,” it mentioned.
Serbia, a candidate for EU membership, is sort of completely depending on Russian gasoline and oil. It refuses to impose sanctions towards the Kremlin and it maintains common flights to Moscow.
“We are persevering with these flights actually out of precept, as a result of we wish to present that we’re a free country and we make our personal selections,” Vucic mentioned.
“Do not resolve for us when to cancel flights.”
In current weeks Belgrade has voted thrice for UN resolutions that condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and suspended it from the principle U.N. human rights physique.
Moscow calls its actions in Ukraine a particular navy operation to denazify the country.
(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Nick Macfie)
