Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said on Thursday that Belgrade should have informed Athens of the cargo in the Ukrainian plane that crashed in the north of the country over the weekend.

“The Serbian side cannot say that everything was done correctly, it was not – we are waiting for an explanation,” Dendias told the newsbomb.gr news portal adding that this was the reason for the diplomatic note sent to the Serbian authorities. The Foreign Minister said a demarche was also sent to the Ukrainian authorities.

„We have asked for explanations from both countries. It is obvious that according to the existing rules and provisions, Serbia should have informed Greece about what the specific aeroplane was carrying, about its cargo,“ he said. He added that under existing regulations Belgrade was obliged to inform the Greek Civil Aviation Authority about the cargo.

The Antonov An-12 cargo plane, which crashed near Kavala in northern Greece on Saturday night, was carrying 11.5 tons of Serbian-made mortars en route to Bangladesh. The Soviet-made aircraft was operated by Ukrainian company Meridian.