Russia expelled two diplomats from Bulgaria from the country

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The Bulgarian Embassy in Moscow

Photo: ALEXANDER NEMENOV / AFP

Russia reacts to Bulgaria's expulsion of two Russian diplomats.

For its part, the Russian government has now expelled two Bulgarian embassy employees from the country.

The consular secretary and the secretary for trade and economic affairs would have to leave Russia within 72 hours, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow.

After the two Russian diplomats were expelled in March, the Russian Foreign Ministry spoke of an "unfounded decision."

At that time, the NATO and EU country Bulgaria responded to new allegations of espionage.

The Bulgarian public prosecutor said it had uncovered a network of agents in mid-March.

It is said to be Bulgarians who are said to have spied for Russia.

The Russian embassy in Sofia is said to have been involved in this.

According to media reports, the two Russian diplomats who have been expelled are officers of the Russian military intelligence service GRU.

38 diplomats from several countries expelled

The diplomatic tensions between Russia and Bulgaria are not an isolated incident - Moscow is currently at odds with several countries.

Since last Friday alone, Russia has expelled 38 diplomats from various countries from its territory: 10 employees from the American embassy, ​​5 from the Polish, 20 from the Czech, the Ukrainian consul in St. Petersburg and now two Bulgarians.

The crisis is particularly severe between Prague and Moscow.

In 2014 there were explosions in a Czech ammunition dump, and the Czech government is now making the Russian secret service responsible for them.

Two people were killed at the time, and Czech soldiers had been busy for two years defusing duds and securing the area again.

The Czech government announced over the weekend that it would expel 18 Russian diplomats on suspicion of espionage.

In return, Moscow announced the expulsion of 20 members of the Czech embassy.

The Czech Interior Minister Jan Hamáček has now increased the pressure: As a "sign of solidarity", he demanded that the EU and NATO partners also expel Russian diplomats.

mrc / dpa / AFP