Bulgaria announces deportation of 70 Russian diplomats on Tuesday over espionage concerns
The outgoing Prime Minister of Bulgaria called her Russia not to carry out the threat that it will close its embassy in Sophia and withdraw the diplomatic ultimatum he sent following the government’s decision to deport 70 Russian diplomats.
Bulgaria, which is a member of the EU and NATOannounced on Tuesday that it was deporting 70 Russian diplomats over espionage concerns and set a ceiling on the size of Moscow’s diplomatic mission as relations with its once-close allies were strained by the war in Ukraine. This is the largest expulsion of Russian diplomats from Bulgaria in recent years, and if it goes ahead, Russia’s diplomatic mission in the country will be halved.
According to the Foreign Ministry, the ambassador of Russia Eleonora Mitrofanova issued a diplomatic note urging Sofia to annul its decision by noon on Friday. Otherwise, he said, he would ask Moscow to consider closing the embassy completely.
Mitrofanova, who described the deportations as “an unprecedented hostile move”, was not immediately available for comment. In a statement, Petkov urged Russia to keep diplomatic channels open between Moscow and Sofia despite deportations. He explained that after the 70 deportations, Russia would still have 43 diplomatic personnel in Sofia, compared to only 12 in Bulgaria. Moscow.
“We believe that dialogue is necessary, for which diplomatic channels are essential”said Petkov. “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. “concluded.
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