The EU sees disproportionate that Russia threatens Bulgaria with breaking relations for the expulsion of diplomats

BRUSSELS, July 1 (EUROPE PRESS) –

The European Union has considered this Friday disproportionate and unjustified that Vladimir Putin’s regime threatens Bulgaria with breaking diplomatic relations in retaliation for the expulsion of 70 Russian diplomats suspected of espionage in the framework of the war in Ukraine.

“Such a disproportionate step by Russia will only serve to isolate it even more internationally,” said a spokesman for the European External Action Service led by the High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell.

The community bloc “supports and fully sympathizes” with Bulgaria and will be attentive to how the matter evolves, added the European spokesman through a statement, which defends that the expulsion of the staff members of the Russian embassy in Bulgaria responds to the fact that “they violated the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations.”

“The European Union regrets the unjustified threat of the Russian Federation to break diplomatic ties with Bulgaria in response to Bulgaria’s decision, fully in accordance with international law,” settles European diplomacy.

After Bulgaria decided to expel these Russian citizens, the Russian ambassador in Sofia, Eleonora Mitrofanova, announced that Moscow will reconsider its diplomatic relations with this country. However, Bulgaria’s acting prime minister, Kiril Petkov, has defended the move and warned the Kremlin that “they will not accept ultimatums” from him.