Bulgaria: Russia threatens to close its embassy in Sofia

Bulgaria’s outgoing prime minister has called on Russia not to follow through on its threat to close its embassy in Sofia and withdraw the diplomatic ultimatum it sent after the government’s decision to expel 70 Russian diplomats.

Bulgaria, a member of the EU and NATO, announced on Tuesday that it was expelling 70 Russian diplomats over espionage concerns and placed a cap on the size of Moscow’s diplomatic delegation as relations between the once close allies have frayed over the war in Ukraine. It is the largest expulsion of Russian diplomats from Bulgaria in recent years and, if it goes ahead, will halve Russia’s diplomatic representation in the country.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Russian Ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova issued a diplomatic note asking Sofia to reverse its decision by noon on Friday. Otherwise, he said he would ask Moscow to consider closing the embassy altogether.

Mitrofanova, who called the deportations an “unprecedented hostile step,” was not immediately available for comment. Petkov in his statement urged Russia to keep open diplomatic channels between Moscow and Sofia despite the expulsions. He explained that after expelling the 70, Russia will still have 43 diplomatic staff in Sofia, compared to only 12 Bulgaria has in Moscow.

“We believe that dialogue is necessary, for which diplomatic channels are of key importance,” Petkov said. “For this reason we ask the embassy of the Russian Federation to withdraw the diplomatic note submitted today. For the sake of the past and for the sake of the future, we must be able to take steps forward with mutual respect,” he concluded.

SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ