Security failure forces Air Serbia flight to return over Lithuania

Security failure disrupts Belgrade-Moscow flight

The security failure at Belgrade airport caused Air Serbia flight JU134 to turn back over Lithuania on November 3. The flight, which carried Aleksandar Vulin, Dusan Bajatovic, and Nenad Popovic, departed Belgrade at 18:48 and reversed over southern Lithuania before landing before 22:00. Milan Kuc, the corporate security director at Belgrade airport, ordered the return after camera footage showed Vulin bypassed security screening. Vulin, the former intelligence chief who was named chairman of the Srbijagas supervisory board in May 2025, called the return a political settling of scores and asked, "What is this, Colombia?" The disruption clearly stems from the failure to follow airport security procedures during boarding. Bajatovic, the head of state gas company Srbijagas, stated the trip focused on securing extra gas for the winter and managing the fallout from the collapse of Alta banka. The bank’s owner, Davor Macura, faces arrest on suspicion of taking RSD45bn (€383mn) from the bank’s vault. All 150 passengers, who Bajatovic estimated were mostly Russian citizens, underwent a full re-screening of themselves and their luggage before the aircraft was permitted to reboard at 01:50 on November 4. Vulin remains under US sanctions since July 2023 because the US Treasury implicated him in transnational organized crime and misuse of public office to help Russia’s malign activities. Vulin’s party called the sanctions an attack on Serbia. Popovic, the minister for international economic cooperation in the outgoing government, was also sanctioned in November 2023.

Political fallout and gas contracts

The flight arrived amidst a shift in Serbian leadership after Vucic’s coalition lost the October 25 election to the Student List. This new group plans to send delegations to Moscow and Washington once it forms a government to seek long-term deals. Serbia currently relies on Russian supply through TurkStream, with Gazprom providing 6mn cubic metres a day at roughly €318 per 1,000 cubic metres. The current gas contract expires on December 31. Vulin, who lost his post as deputy prime minister in April 2025, previously faced accusations from Vladimir Kara-Murza regarding a 2021 meeting of Russian opposition figures in Belgrade. Bajatovic, who is Russia’s honorary consul in Novi Sad, explained that the trip focused on securing extra gas for the winter and managing the fallout from the collapse of Alta banka. The bank’s failure cut certain channels, specifically payments from Russians to Serbia. Bajatovic is also the primary interlocutor with Gazprom. The NIS refinery, which holds a 56.15% Russian-held stake that Hungary’s MOL is negotiating to buy, has been under US sanctions since October 2025 and holds a licence until December 11. Croatia’s JANAF holds a matching licence for the only route that brings seaborne crude to the Pancevo refinery.