PM Petkov: Bulgaria will summon its ambassador from Russia for consultations in Sofia

Bulgaria will summon its ambassador to Russia, Atanas Kristin, for consultations in Sofia, Prime Minister, Kiril Petkov, said, who is in Brussels for a European Council meeting on March 24.

Our country's action is related to recent statements of the Russian ambassador to Bulgaria, Eleonora Mitrofanova.

"I assess Mitrofanova's reaction as undiplomatic, harsh, rude. That is why we will call our ambassador from Russia back to Bulgaria for consultations. Everyone knows what that means in diplomatic language. Normally, when a country calls its ambassador back for consultations, the other country should follow and do the same," Petkov said.
Prime Minister Kiril Petkov does not expect this to cause a parliamentary or governmental crisis in the country. He stressed that opposition political groups will try to exercise on the issue, but he said they will use another occasion related to the events of the last week.

"I don't think there is a Bulgarian citizen who would be happy for a foreign diplomat to insult Bulgarians and the Bulgarian government. The whole government condemns, no matter which diplomat, to allow herself or himself to do this. We are a country that stands by its institutions and such conduct is absolutely unacceptable from anyone. Our coalition stands firm and the direction we are going, fast or slow, is the right direction," Petkov said.

80% of Bulgarians are against sending arms to Ukraine, we are doing our best to support Ukraine beyond this direct military aid.

In his words, there are no disagreements in the ruling coalition regarding what is happening in Ukraine - Bulgaria has clearly shown that it supports the Ukrainian authorities.

More than 80 percent of Bulgarians do not support providing military aid to Ukraine, so we have to comply to some extent, but this does not mean that we have softened our position or are lowering ourselves, Petkov said.

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There will be a diplomatic response to the recent statement of the Russian ambassador to Bulgaria, Eleonora Mitrofanova, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister, Kiril Petkov, said on March 23.

"It was discussed at an operational meeting - there will be a diplomatic response in one form or another to the recent statement of the Russian ambassador. It is not acceptable in any way for a foreign ambassador to speak on behalf of the Bulgarian people against the Bulgarian government," Petkov said and added that the the public will be informed when the measures are implemented.

The government's reaction came after Russian Ambassador to Sofia Eleonora Mitrofanova said on air on Russia 24 television channel that the Bulgarian people do not support either the rhetoric or the government's actions against Russia.

According to Mitrofanova, "the people of Bulgaria do not support their government's rhetoric and actions regarding the special operation in Ukraine." The ambassador mentioned that during Pentagon head Lloyd Austin's visit to Bulgaria, there were anti-NATO rallies in support of Russia.

"We consider it unacceptable in any way for officials of this or that country, regardless of rank and official position, to publicly criticize the Ambassador of the Russian Federation for his/her assessments of the events taking place in the host country. This directly contradicts the spirit of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations," the Russian Embassy said later in the evening on March 23 in a social network post on the official page of the embassy, in a response to Prime Minister Kiril Petkov.

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