site.btaSofia Says It Will Give Transit Permit for Syria-bound Russian Aircraft if Moscow Agrees to Checks at Bulgarian Airport

Sofia Says It Will Give Transit Permit for Syria-bound Russian Aircraft if Moscow  Agrees to Checks at Bulgarian Airport

Sofia, September 9 (BTA) - Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov said that Bulgaria would allow oveflight by Russian aircraft bound for Syria if Moscow agrees to have the cargo checked at a Bulgarian airport. Mitov was speaking to reporters here Wednesday.

The statement comes a day after the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had refused to issue permits for flights through Bulgarian airspace of Russian military transport aircraft en route from the Russian Federation to Syria in the period between September 1 and 24, 2015. Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Betina Joteva told BTA that there is information which gives Bulgaria grounds to doubt the correctness of the information stated in the request about the purpose of the flights and the cargo transported.

Mitov said that his Ministry will explain the reasons for its decision to the Russian side when an explanation is requested.

He recalled that by decisions of 2011 and 2012 of the Council of the EU, the EU imposed restrictions on the supply of certain commodities and services for the regime of Bashar al-Assad. "Each member state has an obligation to enforce these decisions when there is sufficient information to believe, as is the case now, that there is discrepancy between the declared and the real purpose of the flights. This is the reason why we refused to issue the transit permits," said the top Bulgarian diplomat.