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Russian ambassador plans to suggest to Moscow to shut down embassy in Bulgaria

On Thursday, Eleonora Mitrofanova sent a note to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry demanding to cancel the decision to declare 70 employees of Russian diplomatic missions in the Republic of Bulgaria as personae non gratae and unacceptable persons

SOFIA, July 1. /TASS/. Russia’s Ambassador to Bulgaria Eleonora Mitrofanova plans to suggest to the Russian leadership to shut down the embassy in Sofia, according to a special address of the diplomat to Bulgarians that was released on Friday.

"Unfortunately, our appeal to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry was ignored. In this regard, I immediately intend to raise with the leadership of my country the question about the closure of the Russian embassy in Bulgaria, which will inevitably entail the closure of the Bulgarian diplomatic mission in Moscow. The responsibility for any further grave consequences of this step lies with the government of Kiril Petkov," the ambassador said.

On Thursday, the Russian ambassador sent a note to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry demanding to cancel the decision to declare 70 employees of Russian diplomatic missions in the Republic of Bulgaria as personae non gratae and unacceptable persons, stating that it was "unprecedented, slanderous, absolutely unfounded and provocative, and undermining the basis of our relations."

Acting Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said later that "not a single diplomat should issue ultimatums to Bulgaria." He said 43 diplomats will still stay at the Russian embassy and that was a sufficient number. The acting prime minister also expressed hope that relations with Russia would develop.

On Tuesday, the Bulgarian leadership announced an expulsion of 70 Russian diplomats, administrative and technical staff of the Russian diplomatic missions who were declared personae non gratae. Counting their family members, a total of about 200 people should leave the country by July 3, and the work of the Russian embassy in Bulgaria and the consulates general was effectively brought to a standstill.

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Foreign policy Bulgaria

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