Bulgaria boots another 10 Russian diplomats

The Foreign Ministry in Bulgaria said on Friday 18^th that it had given 10 Russian diplomats 72 hours to leave the country over what it said were activities deemed incompatible with their diplomatic status. This expulsion is the second this month with two having been expelled over allegations that they had been involved in espionage.

Once one of Moscow’s closest allies, the Cold War partner is now a member of the European Union and NATO. The country has also been critical of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, condemning the use of force against its neighbour.

The latest expulsion brings to 20 the number of Russian diplomats told to leave the country over suspected spying since October 2019.

The Prime Minister Kiril Petkov was consulted according to a note on the Bulgaria Foreign Ministry website, saying that the Russian ambassador to Sofia had also been informed.

The Russian embassy to Bulgaria called the move a “hostile demarche” that would hurt relations between Sofia and Moscow and to which Russia would respond accordingly.

Slovakia, also an EU and NATO member, expelled three Russian embassy staff earlier this week based on information from its secret service, with relations between old Cold War allies becoming increasingly strained.

Zelensky, the Ukraine Prime Minister, has repeatedly said that Russia won’t stop at the country’s borders but that it will seek to further the buffer between NATO countries and its own border.

Those claims are now beginning to take on a different feel as Slovakia and now Bulgaria boots more than 10 Russian diplomats.

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