Bulgaria announced a person to non-Grata of one Russian diplomat, reports the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Sofia on Thursday, April 29. According to Deutsche Vella, the department also appealed to the law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation with a request to “provide comprehensive assistance” in investigating explosions in warehouses of ammunition from 2011 to 2020, in particular, the destruction of material evidence during the fire, as well as in the investigation of the poisoning of three Bulgarian citizens, the in the statement.
In this regard, Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zakhariev “conducted a detailed and serious conversation” with the Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Bulgaria. Sofia “wants to maintain equal and mutually beneficial relations with Russia” and “insists on the active and effective assistance” of the Russian side in the “clarification of the circumstances of the incidents” that occurred in the Bulgarian territory, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry reports.
Zahariai also drew the attention of the Russian ambassador to “Some public comments from the Russian officials who consider the Bulgarian side completely inappropriate.” Bulgarian Foreign Ministry “reserves the right to take counter measures” and encouraged Moscow “to discontinue the actions incompatible with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”