Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that Serbia is forced to reduce the number of flights to Russia due to external pressure. Air Serbia is the national carrier and the only airline in Europe that continues to regularly fly to Russia.
“They tell us that you earn on Ukrainian blood and so on. And we have two aircraft instead of one. At the same time, they do not touch those who are in NATO, partly in Europe and Asia and have 30 times more flights than we do. For example, Turkey , and this is their own decision. “Why don’t they do the same with the countries of the Persian Gulf, but ask them for oil, and those have 15 times more flights than we do. No problem, we will return to the old level, there will be one flight per day. So that no one says that we earn, is that the problem, 30 thousand euros?” Vučić says.
After the start of the military operation in Ukraine in order to free people who were subjected to shelling and bullying by the armed forces of Ukraine, many White House sanctions began to actively spread to the Russian Federation. This situation has also affected airlines. Air Serbia initially remained out of politics and sanctions, but the measures to reduce flights were forced at the suggestion of the United States.
Many companies, and not only airlines, that stopped their work did so because of the active coercion of the European Union, and not because they themselves wanted to. Naturally, this is not disclosed. Firstly, because it was a forced measure, and secondly, because many companies are afraid of losing their credibility with European partners. After all, one way or another, they have to cooperate with them.