Serbia and Montenegro seek clarifications from Moldova for “Russian plane”

Officials in Belgrade and Podgorica stated they do not have such information and asked Moldovan authorities for details about the charges made.

On the day Sandu declared accusations of the existence of such a plan, fans of the Partizan football team from Belgrade returned from Moldova.

A day later, Moldova's Football Federation, on the order of the local security service, has made the decision that the match between the Sheriff's teams from Tiraspol and the Belgrade Partizan in the Conference League be played without public presence.

The match between the Sheriff and Partizan will be played on February 16th in Chisinyev, while the return match, February 23rd, in Belgrade.

Moldovan authorities have not announced whether the decision to play the fight without public and the country's president's claims regarding the plan to bring down leadership are inter-connected.

What did the president of Moldova say?

Moldova's president, Maja Sandu, announced at a press conference Monday on February 13th that Russia plans to use foreign sabotagers to bring down its country's leadership, stop membership in the European Union and use it in the fight against Ukraine.

According to her, the plan includes citizens of Russia, Montenegro, Belarus and Serbia entering Moldova in order to try to provoke protests, in a bid to <x0 change the legitimate government with an illegal government controlled by the Russian Federation”.

Officials in Belgrade and Podgorica said they did not have such information and asked Moldova for additional clarifications.

Serbia's invasion ban on fans

Moldova's border police confirmed that on the evening of February 13th, a group of 12 Partizan fans from Belgrade rejected the entrance, who returned from the airport.

The border police told Moldova's Radio Free Europe service that some foreign citizens were rejected entry into Moldova, arguing they failed to meet the conditions for crossing the state border.

“They could not justify the purpose of their trip to Moldova and do not have necessary documents in this direction”, the statement said.

A part of Partizan's football team fans returned from Chisinau to Belgrade on the morning of February 14th, after being officially handed the decision to ban entry into that country, has been disclosed in one of Partizan fans' accounts at the Instagram.

It also became known that the rest of the fans would leave Moldova after 2: 00 p.m. on their flight to Bucharest.

In the Instagram account collecting Partizan fans, a photo is published, said to be from Chisinau Airport.

There are fans with a banner with the map of Kosovo with the colors of the Serbian flag and the inscription “there is no surrender”.

There's no surrender in Chisinau. We expect Serbia's state response”, written under the picture.

They also carry a flag, where the Russian and Serbian ones are interlocked.

Non-public match

Moldova's Football Federation, on orders of Moldova's security service, has decided on February 14th that the match between the Sheriff's teams by Tiraspol and Partizan from Belgrade be played without public presence.

So has said in an answer to Radio Free Europe, the Partizan football club with headquarters in Belgrade.

“The KF Partizani, together with Serbia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is taking all security measures for the team's calm stand and club representatives in Moldova”, the report says.

The Partizan football club reports fans that entry into Moldova and pursuit of the match is not possible and urges them not to travel.

In response to Radio Free Europe, fans who have not been able to enter Moldova reportedly organised the trip individually.

Partizan is one of the two biggest football clubs in Serbia, owned by the state.

Dacic asks Moldova for details about president's allegations

Meanwhile, Serbia's Foreign Minister, Ivica Dacic, has denied Moldova's president's statement, Maja Sandu, for possible participation of Serbian citizens in subversive shares aimed at destabilising Moldova.

Dacic has demanded that Moldova urgently submit all the information it has, because, as he has said, Serbia has never received such information from Moldova.

“I have ordered our accredited ambassador to Chisinau to urgently request clarification of such a statement by Moldova's president at the Ministry of Moldovan Foreign Affairs, as well as to provide us urgently with all information about persons suspected to be participants in such violent actions”, Daciq told Tanjug.

In a statement published by Serbia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dacic has said there are many examples of false news on the international stage.

It commemorated that under domestic laws, any participation of Serbian citizens in armed conflicts abroad is a criminal offence.

On February 14th, Russia rejected allegations by Moldova's president that Moscow was planning to destabilise the former Soviet republic.

“Such claims are completely baseless and unconfirmed”, the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry report reported, Reuters.

On February 14th, Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq met with Russian Ambassador Aleksandar Bocan Kharchenko. Kharchenko delivered a message of congratulations from Russian President Vladimir Putin on the occasion of Serbia's citizenship day.

“We highly appreciate the balanced foreign policy course Belgrade implements in current complex international circumstances”, the Russian president is said to be blessing.

Serbia is the only country in Europe, along with Belarus and Turkey, which has not imposed sanctions on Russia due to its aggression against neighbouring Ukraine.

Putin added that he is convinced that further development of the Russian-Serbian strategic partnership corresponds fully to the interests of the <x0mbore brothers”.

According to a communique by Serbia's president's cabinet, Vuciq and Kharchenko did not comment the statements of Moldova's president.