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Consequences of diplomats’ expulsion from Bulgaria may be radical — Russian diplomat

On Thursday, Russia’s ambassador to Bulgaria, Eleonora Mitrofanova, sent a note to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry demanding that the decision to declare 70 employees of Russian foreign missions as undesirable persons be overturned

MOSCOW, July 1. /TASS/. Russia’s retaliation for Bulgaria’s expulsion of a large group of diplomats may be radical, with Sofia bearing the entire responsibility, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told the media on Friday.

"This is a very serious incident (the expulsion of 70 Russian diplomats from Bulgaria - TASS). All responsibility for its effects, which may be radical, will rest squarely on the Bulgarian side," Grushko said on the platform of the Valdai international discussion club.

On Tuesday, the Bulgarian leadership announced the expulsion of 70 Russian diplomats and support staff of Russian diplomatic offices. All were declared as personae non gratae. About 200 people, including the diplomats’ family members, must leave the country by July 3. The operation of the Russian embassy in Bulgaria and the consulates general will be stalled.

On Thursday, Russia’s ambassador to Bulgaria, Eleonora Mitrofanova, sent a note to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry demanding that the decision to declare 70 employees of Russian foreign missions as undesirable persons be overturned. She slammed the move as "unprecedented, slanderous, absolutely unfounded, provocative and undermining the basis of relations between the two countries". On Friday, Mitrofanova said that her message to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry had been ignored. She declared her intention to raise the issue of closing the embassy in Sofia with the Russian leadership.

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