Bulgaria expels Russian Orthodox Church envoy due to threat to national security

The Russian Embassy in Bulgaria announced on Thursday that the Bulgarian authorities have decided to expel Archimandrite Vassian, head of the Russian Orthodox Church in Sofia and the de facto representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in the country, due to a threat to national security.

Source: European Pravda, citing the embassy on Facebook

Details: The Russian diplomatic mission described the expulsion of the Russian Orthodox archimandrite as "rude and blatant actions" designed to "turn the Russian and Bulgarian peoples against each other".

"It is obvious that Bulgaria’s current leadership has set itself the task of destroying not only the socio-political and cultural-humanitarian ties between our states, but also to break the relationship between the Russian and Bulgarian Orthodox sister churches," the Russian Embassy added.

Eleonora Mitrofanova, Russia’s Ambassador to Bulgaria, told the Russian propaganda agency TASS that the Bulgarian authorities had designated Vassian a threat to national security, and that several other Russian Orthodox priests are being expelled along with him.

"They were put in a van and taken to their homes to collect their belongings; then they will be taken to the church, and then to the border with Serbia," TASS quoted her as saying.

Bulgaria has not yet officially commented on the Russian priests’ expulsion.

Background:

In the spring of 2022, Bulgaria expelled over a dozen Russian embassy employees who were engaged in espionage. In total, European states have expelled hundreds of such Russian "diplomats" since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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