Air Serbia turns back Moscow-bound flight carrying Vulin for checks
Vulin denies wrongdoing and calls the screening a politically motivated move against him; the plane reached Moscow early Wednesday.
An Air Serbia flight bound for Moscow turned back to Belgrade on Tuesday evening over security concerns, Turkey's state-run news agency Anadolu Agency reported.
The airline said the JU134 service had taken off from Belgrade that evening and was sent back while crossing Lithuanian airspace.
Air Serbia said the change followed a notice from airport authorities that one passenger needed extra security checks.
Serbian media named the passenger as Aleksandar Vulin, who chairs the supervisory board of state-owned gas company Srbijagas.
Srbijagas Director General Dusan Bajatovic and politician Nenad Popovic were also on board, local media reported.
Local media reported that Vulin boarded without completing the required screening, and that the airport's security director ordered the return after reviewing surveillance footage.
On landing in Belgrade, all passengers and their luggage were checked again under police supervision.
Vulin told Serbia's Informer television that the allegations were a politically motivated attempt to target him.
He said he had completed all required checks and was carrying no prohibited items, and that he was traveling to Moscow on official business to discuss extending a gas agreement between Serbia and Russia.
The aircraft later resumed its journey and landed in Moscow early Wednesday.
Vulin, a pro-Russian politician, served as Serbia's interior minister, defense minister, director of the Security Intelligence Agency and deputy prime minister during the presidency of Aleksandar Vucic.
The United States imposed sanctions on Vulin in 2023.
The incident comes as Serbia undergoes political change after the Oct. 25 snap parliamentary elections, in which a student-backed electoral list won 52.71 percent of the vote and 140 of the 250 seats, preliminary results showed.
The Aleksandar Vucic - United Serbia alliance received 39.17 percent of the vote and 104 seats in the same preliminary results.
