Nearly two weeks after Bulgaria’s decision to expel a Russian diplomat over a spy case, Moscow retaliated on Monday by doing the same with a Bulgarian diplomat. “On December 28, Bulgarian Ambassador A. Krystin was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry, where he received a note declaring persona non grata a deputy military attaché of the Bulgarian Embassy in Moscow,” diplomacy said Russian, through a press release.
The ministry said the Bulgarian official has 72 hours to leave Russia. This is a retaliatory measure taken against Bulgaria’s “unfounded decision” to expel the Russian military attaché in Sofia in mid-December, continues Russian diplomacy. Sofia expelled this diplomat after the opening of an investigation against him for spying on American troops stationed in Bulgaria, a NATO member country.
Russian-Bulgarian relations are strained
According to the Bulgarian prosecution, the diplomat had been collecting military information for the Russian military intelligence service since 2017. The United States operates three military bases in Bulgaria. Exercises take place there regularly. The announcement was made after a visit to Bulgaria by the commander of NATO’s special operations staff, who came to discuss the future participation of Bulgarian special forces in Alliance missions.
After this expulsion, the US Embassy praised “Bulgaria’s efforts to protect its sovereignty.” A member of NATO since 2004 and of the EU since 2007, Sofia traditionally maintains close economic relations with Russia. From October 2019, however, several espionage cases have cooled relations between the two countries. Four other Russian diplomats and a technical assistant have since been expelled.
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