Bulgaria’s Prime minister Kiril Petkov said, he is not going to change his decision about expelling 70 Russian diplomats. While rejecting the request from Moscow, Bulgaria is adamant about its decision.
On June 28, Bulgaria decided to expel 70 Russian diplomats. This is said to be the largest expulsion of Russians at one time from the Balkan nation in history. The decision was made after concluding that diplomats work against the country’s interests.
On June 28, Petkov said, “Bulgaria is going to expel 70 Russian diplomats. Our services identified them as people who work against our interests.”
“We expect a full 70-seat plane to fly back to Moscow,” he added.
Bulgarian ministry had asked to leave the country by July 3, to whoever is deemed as a threat to national security. Many European countries expelled Russian diplomats after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Bulgaria used to have a strong relationship with Russia during the communist era. They have a close cultural, historical and economic tie, but the relationship between countries became terrible after the 2019 espionage scandal.
The Russian embassy has come with an ultimatum, requesting to withdraw the expulsions orders by 12 pm on July 1, says the Bulgarian foreign ministry.
Russian ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova warned the Bulgarian government, “the question would be immediately raised with Russian leadership concerning the shutting down of the embassy of the Russian Federation in Bulgaria.”
In reply to this, Petkov said, ” we will not allow foreign diplomats to give an ultimatum to the Bulgarian state until 12 noon.”
Former Prime minister Boiko Borissov supported the government’s decision in a press conference on July 1. “Government should not retreat. It has our full support”, he said.
“The note and the ultimatum from Moscow are insulting to our government. I am offended as a Bulgarian. We must support the decision.” Said Borissov.