An Air Serbia plane, which was departing from Belgrade to Moscow, was forced to return to Nikola Tesla Airport, under circumstances that have not yet been officially clarified.
According to Serbian media reports, among the plane's passengers were suspected to be the leader of the Socialist Movement party Aleksandar Vulin, one of the politicians closest to Russia in Serbia, the director of the "Srbijagas" company, Dušan Bajatović, as well as politician Nenad Popović, leader of the Serbian People's Party.
The incident has sparked speculation that Vulin may have attempted to flee Serbia to avoid a possible criminal investigation. However, there has been no official confirmation of his presence on the plane or the reason for his trip.
Serbian television "N1", referring to the portal "Nova.rs", reported that the Airbus A320 aircraft, flight number JU134, had departed from Belgrade at 18:25, bound for Moscow. During the flight, it had changed direction and returned to Belgrade, where it landed shortly before 22:00.
Nova.rs sources claim that the order to turn the plane back was given by the airport's corporate security director for security reasons. This information, however, has not been officially confirmed.
Questions about this trip have also been raised by a warning made a few hours before the plane's departure by the leader of the Democratic Party of Serbia, Srđan Milivojević. "Who is escaping to Moscow tonight, on the 18:30 flight?" he wrote on the social network X.
Earlier, in a statement to the Serbian media outlet "Naš Portal", Milivojević had claimed that two politicians were traveling to Moscow. According to him, one had bought a round-trip ticket, while the other had only a one-way ticket.
He said that the person who had bought a one-way ticket was a former minister, known for his stance against European integration, against whom, according to him, an investigation had been launched. "An investigation has been launched against that man who is on the run," Milivojević declared.
Montenegrin media, including the "ETV" portal, had also identified the two politicians as Aleksandar Vulin and Nenad Popović, reporting that they had booked tickets for the evening flight to Moscow.
These developments are also mentioned in a report by the Serbian newspaper "Republika" on suspicions of financial misappropriation worth around 60 million euros in an institution in Vojvodina, an issue which the newspaper also links to Vulin's name. However, the claims about his involvement and the status of the investigations have not been officially confirmed.
Vulin, a former defense minister, interior minister, and former director of the Serbian intelligence service BIA, is known for his close political ties to Moscow and his anti-Western stance. Bajatović and Popović are also known for their close ties to Russia.
"N1" said it had sought clarification from Air Serbia, Nikola Tesla Airport and the Civil Aviation Directorate, but had not received a response by the time of publication. The television station had also attempted to contact Vulin and Bajatović, but without success.
It remains unclear whether the plane's return was related to the suspected passengers or was caused by some other security issue. ©LAPSI.al
