Bulgaria decided to expel 70 Russian diplomats

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria has decided to reduce the number of Russian diplomats working in the country to a limit not exceeding the number of Bulgarian diplomats in Russia.

The Foreign Ministry announced this at a meeting with Russian Ambassador to Bulgaria Eleonora Mitrofanova. 23 diplomats and 25 technical staff should remain in Bulgaria, according to the ministry's website.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs handed over to the Russian Ambassador a list of 70 employees of the diplomatic missions of the Russian Federation, who must leave Bulgaria by midnight on July 3, 2022. A TASS source at the Russian embassy in Sofia specified that it was about 70 diplomats and representatives of the technical staff of the embassy. The Bulgarian government said that all 70 people will leave the country on one flight on July 3.

The Bulgarian publication Dnevnik writes that, according to unofficial information, about 150 employees work at the Russian Embassy in Sofia.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has so far unofficially announced that it will respond to Bulgaria's actions.