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Moscow regrets Sofia’s decision to declare two Russian diplomats as personae non gratae

Retaliatory steps will be announced later, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry

Russian Foreign Ministry Valery Sharifulin/TASS

Russian Foreign Ministry

© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

MOSCOW, September 24./TASS/. Sofia’s declaring diplomats from the Russian trade mission as personae non gratae will damage bilateral cooperation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a report circulated on Thursday.

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"We express regret over the decision by official Sofia to declare employees of the Russian trade mission in Bulgaria as personae non gratae based on far-fetched accusations," the ministry stressed. "We see this as a deliberate attempt to damage constructive Russian-Bulgarian cooperation," the ministry stressed.

Retaliatory steps will be announced later, it said.

On September 23, the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Russian Minister-Counsellor Mikhail Barilovich and announced its decision to expel two employees of the Russian trade mission. It is alleged that the two have been engaged in espionage activities in Bulgaria since 2016, collecting data on plans to update the Bulgarian army and maintain technical readiness of military hardware.

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