An Air Serbia plane carrying several allies of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić from Belgrade to Moscow turned back over Lithuania on November 3 and returned to its departure airport. The airline said one passenger required an additional security check. Flight JU134 departed again after the checks and arrived in Moscow on the morning of November 4.
The passengers included Socialist Movement leader Aleksandar Vulin, Srbijagas chief Dušan Bajatović and politician Nenad Popović. According to Nova.rs, the initial flight left Belgrade at 6:48 p.m. on November 3 and turned around over southern Lithuania.
Sources cited by Nova.rs alleged that Vulin had initially boarded without undergoing the required screening and that this prompted the plane's return. Air Serbia confirmed that an additional passenger check was needed but did not identify the passenger or publicly corroborate the journalists' account of how he boarded. Vulin denied that screening procedures had been breached.
In an interview with N1, Bajatović said he was traveling to discuss gas supplies and difficulties with payments. He said he did not know the purpose of Vulin's or Popović's visits. Vulin, for his part, identified an extension of the gas agreement with Russia as one of the topics of his trip.