The Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared persona non grata a Russian diplomat
18 December 2020 News
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria announced that a diplomat from the Russian Embassy in Sofia is persona non grata due to actions incompatible with the diplomatic status and was given 72 hours to leave the country. A diplomatic note with this content was handed to the Deputy Head of the Russian Embassy, who was summoned to the Foreign Ministry earlier today.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva received a letter from the Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev informing that pre-trial proceedings had established how the diplomat had collected information, which is a state secret. This act constitutes a crime under article 104 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code. As the perpetrator enjoyed immunity under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the pre-trial proceedings were terminated.