LAST UPDATE: 20:08
Bulgaria will deport 70 members of the Russian diplomatic delegation, Prime Minister Kirill Petkov announced today.
“Bulgaria is going to deport 70 Russian diplomats (…) Our services have identified them as people who were working against our interests,” he told reporters.
This is the largest number of Russian diplomats in Bulgaria deported in one go.
“All those working against the interests of Bulgaria will be invited to return to their country. We expect a 70-seat plane to depart for Moscow,” Petkov added.
Those identified as a “threat to national security” must leave the country by July 3rd, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry announced.
Many European countries have expelled Russian diplomats following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, with Russia retaliating.
The Foreign Ministry announced today that it had summoned Russia’s ambassador to Sofia, Eleonora Mitrofanova, to brief her on Sofia’s decision.
Bulgaria, which expects Russia to temporarily close its consulate general in Ruse, in northern Bulgaria, will temporarily close its consulate in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg (Urals), the ministry said.
The Balkan country had already deported 10 Russian diplomats in March over the war in Ukraine.
Today a member of the EU and NATO, Bulgaria, a staunch ally of the Soviet Union under communist rule, still maintains close cultural, historical and economic ties with Russia.
But a series of espionage scandals since 2019 have worsened their bilateral relations.
SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
Source: Capital
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