The First Secretary of the Russian embassy in Bulgaria has been declared persona non grata

The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry on April 1 handed over a note declaring the first secretary of the Russian Embassy in Bulgaria as persona non grata. The diplomat was suspected by the Bulgarian authorities of espionage.

Government spokeswoman, Lena Borislavova, confirmed for BNT that the note was handed at around 19:00 to Philip Voskresensky, a diplomat who holds the second highest rank at the Russian embassy in Bulgaria.

The Russian diplomat, who has been declared persona non grata, has been given 72 hours to leave the country.

Later, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that the Bulgarian Prosecutor General's Office had notified the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that a diplomat from the Russian embassy had been involved in unregulated intelligence activity.

The said diplomatic official was carrying out activities on the territory of the country which are incompatible with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a note declaring the diplomat persona non grata and giving him 72 hours to leave the country, the statement says.