“The answer has to be hard and fast.” Bulgaria blocked the money of the Russian embassy

Remittance of $890,000 was blocked to the account of the Russian embassy in Sofia due to EU restrictions. “… The transfer of these funds was stopped, but the accounts were not closed. Bulgaria did not take any action on this, everything happened automatically on the basis of EU sanctions, ”said the official.

“The issue of removing these funds from the sanctions package is being decided at the level of the European Commission, we will take the necessary actions when it is decided to remove the blockage,” he said.

The Russian Embassy confirmed that the funds were blocked. Diplomatic mission employees stated that this money should be paid to diplomats.

limits of stupidity

Toshko Yordanov, head of the Bulgarian parliamentary group of Such a People Party, described the blocking of translation as “crossing all lines of stupidity”, “because it has nothing to do with us being a hostile state. “We haven’t severed our diplomatic relations yet,” he said.

According to him, after the incident Moscow has every reason to block the accounts of the Bulgarian diplomats.

Chairman of the Federation Council Constitutional Legislation Committee Andrei Klihas called for a harsh response from Bulgaria to the blocking of the Russian embassy’s accounts.

“The longer we think about the reaction of Bulgaria, which expelled the diplomats and now blocks the accounts of the Russian embassy in Sofia, the more arrogant the government of this once sovereign country will act. You need to answer hard and fast, ”he wrote on Telegram.

Klihas stressed that Russia continues to value “relationships that no longer exist” in the name of historical memory that “Bulgaria has trampled on”.

Ambassadors are unwelcome

previous source Izvestia In diplomatic circles, they said that after the expulsion of Russian diplomats from Bulgaria, Russia will close its embassy in Sofia and that Bulgarian diplomats will be expelled from Russian territory.

Russia to close its embassy [в Софии], technically there was no way out for us to function any more. At the instigation of the West, Bulgaria sent a list of the names of unwanted persons, listing mainly technical workers: head of the security service, cryptographer, cleaner, drivers. They removed 70 employees who could not be replaced, several dozen people remained in the embassy. We will act like a mirror,” the newspaper’s interlocutor stressed.

On 28 June, the Bulgarian authorities decided to expel 70 Russian diplomats and representatives of the technical staff of the Russian diplomatic departments from the country. Bulgarian Acting Prime Minister Kirill Petkov claimed that embassy employees were convicted of espionage and that their “diplomatic role was a cover-up”. By July 3, about 200 people (diplomats and family members) had left the country.

Due to the expulsion of diplomats, the Consulate General of Ruse will be closed and the Consulate General in Varna will have almost no staff.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declarationIt was reported that after the expulsion of 70 diplomats, the embassy in Bulgaria could not continue to work.

“As for the actual situation in the world, the people that Bulgaria illegally expelled and declared persona non grata, so to speak, provided the vital activity of most of our diplomatic missions. Now after this trick, it’s totally illegal according to the State Department [России]”The embassy cannot function normally,” he said.

Vladimir Dzhabarov, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council International Relations Committee, also urged the Russians to “boycott resorts in Bulgaria”. “In the Black Sea, Sochi looks several times more attractive … Without the Russians, none of the self-respecting Europeans will go to Bulgaria, preferring Cyprus, Greece and Turkey,” he says.