Russia and Bulgaria are one step away from breaking diplomatic relations
Earlier, Sofia expelled 70 Russian diplomats, and Sergey Lavrov said that our embassy “does not work normally.” How will Moscow respond and how will it affect hundreds of thousands of owners of Bulgarian real estate?
The expulsion of 70 diplomats at once is an unprecedented event in the history of Russian-Bulgarian relations. In Moscow now they say, which appears to be “not able to function normally” as the expelled personnel “serve the activities” of the mission. The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergei Lavrov, called Sofia’s decision “a completely unexpected trick” and was able to find Bulgaria’s answer “reciprocity.”
Nikolai Podchas, a researcher at the European Union Research Sector of the Center for European Studies at IMEMO RAS, suggests the consequences of a possible – or even probable – rupture of diplomatic relations, including for about 300,000 owners of Bulgarian real estate:
Nikolai Podchasov IMEMO RAS
Bulgarian Prime Minister Kirill Petkov received solution about the expulsion of Russian diplomats in the midst of public opinion. Earlier, his coalition lost one of its partners and lost its majority, after which the parliament delivered a vote of no confidence in the government. The prime minister blamed Eleonora Mitrofanova for what happened, including among Russian citizens, who called it a “convenient message” and said that suggest Moscow at the end closed the embassy. The initiator of the vote was the GERB party of former Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov. Now, if Petkov does not need to create a new coalition, new elections are expected.
How can Sofia’s position towards Russia change if the opposition wins? Can GERB be called a more pro-Russian, or perhaps less pro-European, political load? Bulgarian historian and journalist Plamen Pavlov comments:
Plamen Pavlov Bulgarian historian and journalist
Moscow has not yet decided on Sophia’s answer. How declared At a Russian press conference by Permanent Chairman Vladimir Chizhov, the mirror expulsion of 70 diplomats may be problematic, since the Bulgarian mission does not necessarily have so many employees. At the same time, the diplomat noted that Russia, “of course, will be strong.”