Russia has declared an employee of the Bulgarian embassy to Moscow persona non grata

Russia has declared an employee of the Bulgarian embassy to Moscow persona non grata in retaliation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement as quoted by TASS on May 13.

The measure is in response to the declaration of a diplomat from the Russian embassy in Sofia as persona non grata. The Bulgarian ambassador to the Russian Federation, Atanas Kristin, was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry, where he was presented with the note.

The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry told BNT that the note has not yet been officially received by them.

At the same time, Moscow announced that it was also expelling 10 Romanian diplomats. The Russian Foreign Ministry said the measure was in response to Romania's April 5 decision to expel ten Russian diplomats. Moscow rejects Romania's attempts to blame Russia for war crimes in Ukraine," the foreign ministry said.