SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Two Russian planes took off from Bulgaria on Sunday carrying dozens of Russian diplomats and their families amid a mass expulsion that has heightened tensions between the historically close nations, a Russian diplomat said.
Philip Voskresensky, a senior Russian diplomat, told reporters at the airport in the Bulgarian capital Sofia before the flights departed that he was among 70 Russian diplomatic officials declared persona non grata last week and ordered to leave the country by the end of Sunday.
The decision to expel Bulgaria was announced by acting Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, who took a strong stance against Russia after it invaded Ukraine on February 24. Petkov, who lost a no-confidence vote on June 22, alleged that Moscow had used “hybrid warfare” tactics to topple his government.
Petkov said Russia would retain 43 of its officials after the expulsion and noted that Bulgaria had only 12 diplomatic staff in Moscow.
“Anyone who works against Bulgaria’s interests will be called to return to the country they came from,” he said.
On Friday, Russian Ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova issued an ultimatum to Bulgaria to reverse its decision and threatened that Moscow would cut diplomatic relations completely.
“I intend to urgently raise with the leadership of my country the issue of closing the Russian embassy in Bulgaria, which will inevitably lead to the closing of the Bulgarian diplomatic mission in Moscow,” she said in her statement.
The expulsion, which has seriously strained diplomatic relations, is the largest number of Russian diplomats ever expelled from Bulgaria, which is a member of the European Union and NATO. Bulgaria has staunchly supported Western sanctions against Moscow since it launched its war on Ukraine more than four months ago.
The European Union, of which Bulgaria has been a member since 2007, responded to Russia’s “unjustified threat” and declared that it “is in full support and solidarity with Bulgaria.”
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In late April, Russia cut off gas supplies to Bulgaria after officials refused Moscow’s request to pay gas bills in rubles, the Russian currency. Bulgaria’s defense minister was also ousted in early March for calling Russia’s war a “special military operation,” the description preferred by the Kremlin.
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Stephen McGrath reported from Sighisoara, Romania.
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