Malta's ambassador explained the reason for the revocation of Zakharova's visa by the reaction of some countries

The visa of the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova to Malta to participate in the meeting of the Council of the Heads of Foreign Ministries (CFM) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was canceled due to objections from some countries of the European Union (EU). This was reported to journalists by Maltese Ambassador to Russia Carmelo Inguanez on December 5.

According to him, Zakharova was initially granted a visa, but then some countries expressed disagreement with this decision. Inguanez did not specify which countries expressed dissatisfaction, but indicated that "there were objections from more than one country."

"We also have to respect European solidarity. That's why the [Maltese foreign] minister decided that the visa should be canceled. And after we issued her visa, unfortunately we had to cancel it," RTVI reported the ambassador as saying.

The Ambassador emphasized that the trip of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the OSCE was not in doubt.

On the eve of the Times of Malta, citing a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of Malta reported that the revocation of the Maltese visa Zakharova due to the refusal of three EU countries to lift the ban on her travel. The material noted that Zakharova is under EU sanctions and can not enter its territory. To obtain permission to enter Zakharova needs approval from all members of the EU.

The fact that Zakharova's Maltese visa for the OSCE was canceled became known the day before. The organizers attributed the decision to "circumstances beyond their control." The Foreign Ministry called it an unprecedented case, since the visa issued to the diplomat was canceled before the departure of the Russian delegation. Lavrov called the incident an insult to the country's functions as chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The Foreign Ministry said Russia plans to take part in an OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in Malta in early October. In November, it was reported that Poland and its partners could not agree on their reaction to Lavrov's participation in the meeting.