SOFIA, October 28. /TASS/. Bulgaria is expelling a Russian diplomat, whom the prosecutor’s office earlier accused of spying. As the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said after a meeting with the Russian ambassador, the diplomat in question has already left the country.
"The Bulgarian side expressed the wish that the embassy’s staffer should be revoked on Monday by the end of the day. The diplomat has reportedly left Bulgaria," the Foreign Ministry stated. TASS has obtained no comment from the Russian embassy yet.
Earlier on Monday the Bulgarian prosecutor’s office said it had launched criminal proceedings against a Russian diplomat. At the same time the case was paused, because the person in question enjoyed diplomatic immunity.
"The special prosecutor’s office launched proceedings over a crime against the republic committed by a foreign citizen. Since September 2018 the foreign citizen in question has been collecting information constituting a state secret concerning the interests of Bulgaria, the European Union and NATO for passing it on to a foreign country," the statement says.
The Russian embassy in Bulgaria has refrained from comment.