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Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova PHOTO: Reuters
Borissov: Years ago I warned Putin that we do not allow such things in Bulgaria
Russia regretted Bulgaria’s decision to declare two of its diplomats persona non grata and promised retaliation. Moscow will give more details on them at a later date.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sofia’s decision is based on “fabricated accusations.” “We consider this to be a deliberate attempt to damage the constructive Russian-Bulgarian cooperation,” the position read on the ministry’s website.
On Wednesday, the Bulgarian prosecutor’s office announced that two Russians had been involved in intelligence work in Bulgaria since 2016. The state prosecutor’s office did not name or name them, but 24 Chasa learned of them from two independent sources: Sergei Nikolashin and Vadim Bikov. Deputy commercial attachés from the Moscow office in Sofia gathered information on plans to modernize the Bulgarian army and maintain the technical availability of military equipment.
Practice so far shows that in such diplomatic scandals the measures are completely mirror, that is. Diplomats of equal or similar rank in the hierarchy are persecuted. A reference on the website of the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy shows that three Bulgarians work in the Office of Economic and Trade Affairs in Moscow.
According to the prosecution, the purpose of the spies was to pass the collected information, which is a state and official secret, to Russian military intelligence. In order to carry out their illegal activity, the two persons also established contacts with Bulgarian citizens who had access to information related to the country’s military-industrial complex. In some cases, economic benefits have been promised and provided to Bulgarian citizens.
The Russian embassy raised the position that declaring two Russian diplomats persona non grata was unfounded. The mission added that the Russian side reserves the right to retaliate and no concrete evidence has been provided of the diplomats’ activities incompatible with their status.
“Unfortunately, we are forced to affirm that the unjustified expulsion of the two Russian diplomats does not correspond to the traditionally constructive character of bilateral relations.” The employees in question will leave the country within the period specified in the note. The Russian side reserves the right to respond with mirror measures, “the Russian embassy said.
In less than a year, this is the third group of Russian spies to pursue Bulgaria.
“Several years ago, I warned President Putin, then Prime Minister Medvedev, who was in Bulgaria that we do not allow such things on the territory of Bulgaria. The prosecution is very strict in this regard, and anyone who tries to spy, in the proper order, which is very well described in international relations and in the ministry, we do it. There is sufficient evidence for SANS and the prosecution to act in this way. “This was what Prime Minister Boyko Borissov commented on Thursday on the occasion of another spy scandal related to Russian diplomats in our country.
President Rumen Radev said that the supremacy of the national interest and the protection of national security are an absolute priority and there can be no compromise.
“I hope that both the services and the Prosecutor’s Office have gathered sufficient and objective evidence necessary to minimize diplomatic consequences, because there always are,” added the head of state. Rumen Radev called for a very clear and uncompromising approach to everything that undermines national security.
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