SOFIA, January 24. /TASS/. Bulgaria’s authorities can declare Russian diplomats involved in the espionage case personae non gratae, Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva told reporters at a press briefing broadcast by the Nova TV network.

"The Russian ambassador to Bulgaria will be invited to a meeting [at the Foreign Ministry] later in the day, and the diplomatic staff involved in the espionage scandal will be declared personae non gratae," she said.

On January 24, Bulgaria’s prosecutors launched pre-trial probes involving two Russian diplomats as part of the spying case. At the same time, Russian Ambassador to Bulgaria Anatoly Makarov told TASS that Russia had received no official information on the issue.