The company that operates the airports in North Macedonia, TAV, has come out with a reaction regarding Thursday`s incident where, according to the Presidency of Kosovo, the airport official tried to take the personal phone of President Osmani and further tried to push her physically.

"By the Law on Aviation and the international legal regulation that refers to the safety of civil aviation, TAV Macedonia as the airport operator has a legal obligation to carry out a safety check of all passengers, baggage, and goods on flights from Skopje International Airport and from Saint Apostol Pavle Ohrid Airport, including passengers traveling through the VIP lounge. Therefore, the Security Department of TAV Macedonia, within its competencies, has carried out a standard security check of the mentioned passenger as well as her luggage, at the security checkpoint in the VIP lounge, to ensure the specific commercial flight" said TAV in response.

We want to emphasize that aviation security was not threatened, because the mentioned event took place in the public space of the airport, i.e. in front of the checkpoint of the VIP lounge, from where VIP passengers, after being checked by security, are sent to the area of check from the airport. We also want to emphasize that the VIP lounge is a separate building isolated from the main terminal building of Skopje Airport, which means that it is completely incorrect that the safety of travelers has been compromised", concludes the statement issued by TAV.