(ANSA-AFP) - SOFIA, APR 29 - Bulgaria's foreign ministry said
Thursday that it would expel a Russian diplomat, a day after
prosecutors said they had established links between six Russian
nationals and several past explosions at arms depots. "The
Bulgarian foreign ministry declared one more Russian diplomat
persona non grata," the ministry said in a statement. It urged
Russia to "fully cooperate" in its probes aimed at "discovering
the perpetrators and bringing them to justice". The EU member --
which used to boast close ties with Russia -- has expelled seven
other Russian diplomats and another Russian embassy staff member
since October 2019 over various spying and other accusations.
Bulgarian prosecutors said Wednesday they have established links
between six Russian nationals who spent time in Bulgaria and
four explosions at arms depots in the EU country between 2011
and 2020. Moscow, in turn, accused Bulgarian officials of trying
to outdo authorities in Prague who allege that Russian secret
services were behind an explosion in the Czech Republic in 2014.
The Czech accusations sparked a wave of EU-Russia tit-for-tat
diplomatic expulsions. (ANSA-AFP).
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