Bulgaria has ‘ignored’ Moscow’s demand to reverse its decision to expel 70 officials from the Russian embassy
Bulgaria has “unfortunately brushed aside” a Russian ultimatum regarding the expulsion of 70 employees of its embassy in Sofia, the Russian envoy to the country said on Friday. Elvira Mitrofanova said she will be recommending that the Russian government delivers on its threat sever relations with the host country.
The Russian embassy warned Sofia on Thursday that diplomatic ties between the two nations could be entirely cut, and that “the responsibility for the extremely serious consequences for the bilateral relations will be fully on Bulgaria’s head.”
Acting Bulgarian Prime Minister Kirill Petkov, whose government was disbanded last week after losing a confidence vote in parliament, announced the mass expulsions a day after he was tasked by the president with forming a new coalition. The premier claimed that most of the 70 diplomats were intelligence agents working under diplomatic cover, citing reports from Bulgarian security agencies.
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev called on Petkov to hold an emergency meeting of his interim government to evaluate the situation. He said whatever decision the government takes should “be in line with the requirements of national security and the interest of thousands of Bulgarian citizens living in Russia.”
“They cannot be left without diplomatic assistance. Decisions regarding national security cannot disregard the risks of escalations and economic damage,” the statement said.
RT (Russia Today) is a state-owned news organization funded by the Russian government. The information provided by this news source is being included by the Libertarian Hub not as an endorsement of the Russian government, but rather because it is being actively censored by Big Tech, Western governments and the corporate press. During times of conflict it is imperative that we have access to both sides of the story so we can form our own opinions, even if both sides are spewing their own propaganda. The censorship of RT, despite likely being a propaganda outfit for the Russian government, reduces our ability to hear one side of the conflict. For that reason, the Libertarian Hub will temporarily republish the RSS feed from RT. Visit https://rt.com
