Foreign Minister Zaharieva: The actions of the Russian spy network in Bulgaria are a threat to the entire Euro-Atlantic community

“The actions of the Russian spy network in Bulgaria are a threat to the entire Euro-Atlantic community. We need a consistent and realistic approach to Russia and we must defend our values ​​- freedom, democracy, the rule of law, human rights.”

With these words, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ekaterina Zaharieva, addressed her NATO counterparts. On March 24, she took part in the second day of the Alliance's foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels. This is also the first meeting with the participation of the newly appointed US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.

The focus of the discussion was relations with Russia. The uncovering of the network for unregulated gathering of information for Moscow, operating on the territory of Bulgaria, became one of the central topics on the agenda.

"I thank the allies and Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, for the expressed public support for the work of the Bulgarian law enforcement agencies," said Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva. She added that Bulgaria will continue to thwart any attempts for malicious interference in our internal affairs.

Zaharieva informed her counterparts that Bulgaria had to declare two more Russian diplomats persona non grata for actions incompatible with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

During the meeting, a number of foreign ministers spoke in support of Bulgaria. In addition to NATO's top diplomats, the meeting was also attended by EU High Representative, Josep Borrell, and the foreign ministers of Sweden and Finland.

The participants in the discussion agreed that Russia continues its destabilizing actions, despite years of diplomatic efforts, sanctions and attempts for dialogue. In this regard, the ministers reaffirmed the validity of NATO's two-track approach, which combines strong deterrence and defence and openness to a meaningful dialogue with Russia.

Minister Zaharieva stressed the importance of Allied unity in tackling a wide range of challenges, including undermining the international legal order, strengthening the military presence in NATO's neighbouring regions, cyber-attacks and hybrid operations, and arms control. She stressed the need for closer co-operation between NATO and the EU, as well as with like-minded partners.

The Bulgarian Foreign Minister called for strengthening the Alliance's focus on security and stability in the Western Balkans, especially in view of the growing disinformation campaigns in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

NATO foreign ministers adopted a brief statement from the meeting reaffirming the focus of transatlantic security relations and outlining guidelines for the upcoming summit.

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