[ad_1]
The last of these cases was recorded on March 3, when an AN-124 flying from Russia to Serbia crossed Bulgarian airspace. It flew parts of the Russian Pantsir-C1 air defense system. It is announced that this was the fourth delivery of this type of Russian military equipment to the Balkan country through Bulgarian airspace in recent years.
The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry did not acknowledge receipt of a formal request for Russian military equipment to fly in the country’s airspace, and RFE / RL stated that there was no reason to “impede the development of trade relations between the two independent countries. “.
And that’s not the end of the ministry’s attempts to justify itself. The representatives also stated that “neither the United Nations, nor the European Union, nor the OSCE impose restrictions on Serbia for defense-related products.”
In July 2019, another NATO member, Romania, refused to allow Russia to transport military equipment to Serbia through its territory. The reason for the refusal was the annexation of the Crimean peninsula by Ukraine by Russia. Via Romania – the most direct route for flights from Russia to the territory of Serbia.
Russia then routed its flight through Bulgarian airspace, according to data shared by Flightradar24.
Bulgaria’s actions suggest that the country is “quite friendly to Russia and its aspirations,” said Todor Tagarev, a 2013 military expert and former acting defense minister.
“From a political perspective, the Bulgarian authorities are not at all concerned about the fact that Russia is helping the country west of our border to mobilize a great deal of power, including intelligence and air defense,” Tagarev said.
In the past two years, Serbia has received several military shipments from Russia, including the Panzer-C1 anti-missile system, T-72 tanks, and BRDM-2 armor. Moscow donated part of the equipment to Belgrade and part was bought by Serbia.
The Russian plane, which was carrying the cargo in July 2019, returned via Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. What was inside it is unknown.
Hungary confirmed that the flight had been notified, but was not required to issue a permit because the flight was operated by a civilian operator. Poland claims that Warsaw was not informed of the flight about its military-loaded airspace.
The control mechanism does not exist
The representatives of Slovakia RFE / RL confirmed that this flight in the country’s airspace was authorized because it was requested by a Russian civilian operator and the cargo was described as “non-military equipment”.
The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry did not specify what information it received about the shipment, although it could be both military and non-military in nature. According to Tagarev, there is no control mechanism to monitor the cargo of such flights over Bulgaria.
“When a request is received from the Russian Foreign Ministry, it indicates what the cargo is, but there is no control mechanism. We just have to believe what they tell us,” explains Tagarev.
Representatives of the European Commission RFE / RL said that it is up to the member states of the European Union to decide whether to allow the transit of arms on their territory. Be that as it may, when making such decisions, Member States must first and foremost comply with European Union legislation on the control of exports of military technology and equipment.
NATO officials do not comment on the transit of Russian military equipment through Allied airspace. The US State Department also did not respond to the journalists’ request.
Tagarev claims that Sofia’s decision to allow the transit of Russian military equipment into the country’s airspace makes Bulgaria a “weak link in the Union’s defense and security system.”
“While this is not a direct threat, it certainly demonstrates the lack of long-term and less strategic thinking, as we naively allow Russia to develop relations with other states through hostile actions,” Tagarev commented.
He said the likelihood that these are modern Russian missile systems, including systems that could be used for intelligence tasks, was worrying.
“The number of tanks and the few MiG-29s are not of concern. As an independent state, Serbia has the right to develop its capabilities as it sees fit. We should be specifically concerned with systems that can also be used for intelligence, whether they are intelligence systems. radar or other means, ”says T. Tagarev.
It is strictly prohibited to use the information published by DELFI on other websites, in the media or elsewhere, or to distribute our material in any way without consent, and if consent has been obtained, it is necessary to indicate DELFI as the source. .
[ad_2]
