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SKOPJE, Oct 23 - International flights to Kosovo were blocked for a fourth day on Saturday as Macedonia hesitated over whether to abide by a Yugoslav ban or a counter-ruling by the organisation in charge of European air traffic.
Belgrade imposed the ban on commercial flights on Wednesday, five days after such flights to the Kosovo capital Pristina resumed following a seven-month break due to NATO's March-to-June air strikes against Yugoslavia.
Kosovo is now under de facto international rule with a NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force and a United Nations civilian administration in the Serbian province.
KFOR protested at the ban, issued in a form of a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM), saying the agreement Belgrade signed to end the air strikes gave the peacekeeping force control over Kosovo's airspace.
It persuaded Eurocontrol, which oversees European air traffic, to cancel the NOTAM, which did not affect military and aid flights to Kosovo.
But officials in Macedonia, the former Yugoslav republic over which the flights pass, have yet to give the all clear to the airlines which want to use the route.
A senior official from the Macedonian transport ministry told Reuters on Saturday it was up to Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski to decide which ruling to obey.
"It's a very delicate situation," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"If the ministry of transport allows them, it could imply that we accept Kosovo as an independent state. The ministry of transport does not have such powers, and we think the matter is political, and that is why it was transferred to the ministry of foreign affairs."
"If the ministry and prime minister reach a decision we shall implement it," the official said.
Foreign ministry officials declined to comment.
The row over the flights is the latest in a string of arguments between Yugoslavia and the West over the running of Kosovo.
Belgrade says NATO and the United Nations have violated Yugoslav sovereignty by setting up their own customs service and not letting even a limited number of forces back into Kosovo to patrol the border and cultural sites like Orthodox churches.
Yugoslavia tried to prevent tiny Macedonia from allowing the deployment of NATO troops on its territory in the run-up to their entry into Kosovo in June.