Bulgarian Foreign Ministry declares two Russian diplomats persona non grata

Two Russian embassy officials, who have been declared persona non grata, have 48 hours to leave the country. This was announced by Mitko Dimitrov, Head of the press office at the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 2.

He said that today the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Teodora Genchovska, was notified by the Specialized Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Interior about evidence of intelligence activities carried out by citizens of the Russian Federation enjoying diplomatic immunity. They were carrying out unauthorised intelligence activities incompatible with their diplomatic status in the Republic of Bulgaria.

In this connection, Russian Ambassador, Eleonora Mitrofanova, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry to be handed two notes. She declined the invitation on the grounds that she was out of Sofia. The notes were handed over minutes ago to Philip Voskresensky, a diplomat at the Russian Embassy.

The first note informs the Russian side that Bulgaria has declared two diplomatic officials of the Russian Embassy in Bulgaria as persona non grata. And the second - that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly protests against publications by the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the information space in the recent days with offensive qualifications and insinuations against Bulgaria and its allies.

"These publications are in total contradiction with the policy and attitude of respect and cooperation with Bulgaria repeatedly declared by the Embassy itself and its leadership. The language used by the Embassy is incompatible with diplomatic practice and social norms. And constitutes an unequivocal insult to the Republic of Bulgaria as a country of accreditation," Dimitrov said.

The Foreign Ministry demands that the Embassy of the Russian Federation immediately remove the publications in question and apologise accordingly.