site.bta Defence Ministry Elaborates on Claims Concerning Russian Aircraft Flying over Black Sea

Defence Ministry Elaborates on Claims Concerning Russian Aircraft Flying over Black Sea

Sofia, July 26 (BTA) - The Bulgarian Defence Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that it has not accused Russia of violating Bulgarian airspace, but has referred to flights by Russian aircraft which had not kept their transponders on and had not announced their flight plans in advance - and in one particular case, a flying airplane had no identification markings. All such episodes have been documented by the Bulgarian Air Force and by the NATO air defence system, the Defence Ministry said.

The statement was prompted by what the ministry said was a failure by Russian aircraft to comply with international air navigation rules when flying over the Black Sea.

On Monday, the Reuters news agency reported that Russia had rejected allegations by Bulgaria that its aircraft had been involved in violations of Bulgarian airspace. Reuters quoted a spokesman for Russia's Defence Ministry as saying that Russian aircraft flying over the Black Sea had followed international rules and had kept their transponders on at all times.

In Tuesday's statement, the Bulgarian Defence Ministry noted that, according to international regulations, there is an area in the Black Sea apportioned to Bulgaria which is called Flight Information Region Sofia (FIR Sofia) and it goes far beyond Bulgarian sea and air space. The Defence Ministry said that while it does not deny the right of aircraft of other countries to fly into FIR Sofia, it wants the Black Sea countries to show mutual respect when their aircraft perform flights in international airspace in this part of the world.