Russia expels Bulgarian embassy employee ‘in response to Sofia’s actions’

Moscow has expelled a Bulgarian embassy employee in a tit-for-tat response to Sofia’s move to declare a Russian diplomat persona non grata, TASS reported on Thursday, citing a Russian Foreign Ministry source.

“This is a tit-for-tat response, which we have warned about,” the source said.

On October 29, Bulgaria declared a Russian embassy employee persona non grata, saying he was suspected of espionage.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko said at the time that Moscow would consider retaliatory measures “in accordance with diplomatic practice.”