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On 1 July 2013, president Evo Morales of Bolivia, who had been attending a conference of gas-exporting countries in Russia, appeared predisposed to offer asylum to Edward Snowden during an interview with RT. The following day, the airplane carrying him back to Bolivia from Russia took off from Vnukovo Airport, but was rerouted to Austria when France, Spain and Italy reportedly denied access to their airspace, allegedly due to suspicions that Snowden was on board. Snowden was in fact still in Sheremetyevo Airport, where he had been staying since arriving in Russia a week earlier. An audio tape was subsequently released which appeared to be a recording of the flight crew requesting to land in Austria on the grounds they "could not get a correct indication" of their remaining fuel levels.
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Forced landing
Austria's deputy chancellor, Michael Spindelegger, said that the plane was searched, although the Bolivian Defense Minister denied a search took place, saying Morales had denied entry to his plane. The refusals for entry into French, Spanish and Italian airspace ostensibly for "technical reasons", strongly denounced by Bolivia, Ecuador and other South American nations, were attributed to rumors perpetuated allegedly by the US that Snowden was on board. Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José García-Margallo, publicly stated that they were told he was on board but did not specify as to who had informed them.
Austrian media later reported that when the plane landed in Vienna to refuel, US Ambassador to Austria, William Eacho, “claimed with great certainty that Edward Snowden was onboard” and mentioned a “diplomatic note requesting Snowden’s extradition.”
The President of Austria, Heinz Fischer, went to greet President Morales in his plane and shared breakfast with him.
The plane took off again after Austrian officials confirmed that Edward Snowden was not on board.
Aftermath
France apologized for the incident immediately. The Spanish ambassador to Bolivia apologized two weeks later, citing inappropriate procedures. Italians and Portuguese sent official explanations to the Bolivian Government.
On 3 July, Jen Psaki, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, acknowledged that the U.S. had been "in contact with a range of countries across the world who had any chance of having Mr. Snowden land or even transit through their countries".
On 20 September, Evo Morales announced a lawsuit against the U.S. government for "crimes against humanity" for repeatedly blocking presidential flights, after an incident in which authorization for an overflight of Puerto Rico by President Maduro of Venezuela was delayed, although U.S. authorities said that they were entitled to three days' advance notice. Maduro had been en route to arrive in Beijing for bilaterial talks with the People's Republic of China.
In the aftermath of the incident, seven Latin American countries – Bolivia, Argentina, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Uruguay and Venezuela – voiced their concerns to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, who asserted that "a Head of State and his or her aircraft enjoy immunity and inviolability". Ban also emphasized that it is important to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future.
Claim of responsibility
In April 2015, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange admitted to having deliberately leaked the false information about Snowden being on the plane to the US, as part of "special measures" to distract secret services. In response, the Bolivian ambassador to Russia has demanded that Assange apologize for putting their president's life at risk. In an interview by the Bolivian Newspaper El Deber, in August 2015, Assange admitted that Wikileaks negotiated with Venezuelan diplomats the escape of Snowden in Maduro's and later in Morales' presidential plane. He added that Bolivian diplomats "most certainly were informed about the negotiations" and that there was a clear subordination of the involved European countries, despite of their claims of being defendants of human rights.