site.btaRussian Embassy Receives Notes from Foreign Ministry

The head of the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry's press office, Mitko Dimitrov, told journalists here on Wednesday that two Russian diplomats accredited to Bulgaria have been declared personae non gratae. Russia’s Ambassador in Sofia Eleonora Mitrofanova was summoned to the Ministry to receive the notes, but she was out of the city and sent diplomat Filip Voskresensky in her place.

“The first note is advisory to the Russian party that Bulgaria has declared the two diplomats from the Russian Embassy personae non gratae. They have 48 hours to leave the country. In the second note, the Foreign Ministry expresses strong protest regarding the Russian Embassy’s publications in media over the last days, containing offensive definitions and suggestions aimed at Bulgaria and its allies,” Dimitrov said. He added that the two diplomats are subjects of an investigation into espionage activities of the Russian Federation in this country.

The Bulgarian government considers the Russian Embassy’s statements unacceptable and unequivocally offensive to this country. “We insist that the Embassy immediately retract the publications in question and offer an official apology,” Dimitrov said.