Bulgarian Skies Bar Lavrov's Plane, Accusations of 'Malice' by Russia's Spokeswoman

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived last night in the capital of North Macedonia, Skopje, for the meeting of his colleagues from the countries of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), as his plane bypassed Bulgaria. Although the sanctions regime allows the admission of persons punished by the EU on business trips, there were comments for several days whether the skies above the country could and should be opened on this occasion.

The reason seems to be the presence on board the plane of the spokeswoman of the foreign ministry, Maria Zakharova....