October 20, 1999
Web posted at: 9:54 p.m. EDT (0154 GMT)

PRISTINA, Kosovo (CNN) -- Yugoslavia issued an order barring commercial flights passing through Macedonia from landing in Kosovo, suspending commercial air service to the NATO-patrolled province Wednesday just days after it resumed.

The NATO-led Kosovo force (KFOR) said Belgrade had sent a note to airlines forbidding them from using their current route. The order blocks about four flights a day that commercial airlines had been operating between Macedonia and the Kosovo provincial capital of Pristina.

It has no effect on military or humanitarian flights, or flights that do not pass over Macedonia.

KFOR denounced the Yugoslav action, saying an agreement between Belgrade and the peacekeepers clearly states that KFOR's commander controls the use of Kosovo's airspace.

"This is totally unacceptable and is in non-compliance with the military-technical agreement signed by NATO and the Belgrade military in June," a KFOR spokesman said.

It was not immediately clear why the Yugoslav government issued the order. Yugoslav officials and media have complained loudly about international authorities' decision to grant licenses allowing several commercial airlines to fly into Pristina, seeing the move as an infringement of Yugoslav sovereignty.

KFOR has lodged a complaint with Eurocontrol, the body with overall responsibility for European air traffic, and high-level discussions about the problem were taking place, said KFOR's Maj. Ole Irgens.

Brussels Bureau Chief Patricia Kelly Reuters contributed to this report.

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