Lavrov says detention of Russian fans in Marseille is unacceptable incident

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sent a message to his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault in connection with the detention by French law enforcers of a bus carrying Russian football fans .

"This is an absolutely unacceptable incident when a bus with more than 40 Russian fans was stopped, they were forced to leave the bus for document checks," Lavrov said during the "government hour" at Russia’s lower house of parliament.

"France’s authorities were obliged to inform our embassy and the consulate general in Marseille at that very moment when they carried out the detention, but this was not done," TASS cited him as saying.

The minister noted Russia’s embassy staff found out about the incident only through social networks. "They immediately came to the incident scene, and could defuse the situation and establish dialogue," Lavrov said.

"The French acted in violation with all commitments under the Vienna Convention - this is a fact. I have already sent a respective message to the foreign minister of France demanding not to let similar violations occur again," he stressed.

He also called the behavior of some Russian fans who bring flare guns to the matches unacceptable. "All this is absolutely prohibited," he said. "At the same time, we cannot put a blind eye to the fact that they try to ignore the absolutely provocative actions of fans from other countries."

"You might have seen the outrageous TV footage when they trample the Russian flag and shout words insulting the Russian leadership and prominent Russian athletes," he said.

He also said that ignoring provocateurs who try to create a crisis situation is also unacceptable. "Our diplomats will work with the French authorities on a constant basis."