Bulgaria to expel two Russian diplomats for spying

Bulgaria is set to expel two Russian diplomats over spying allegations, its foreign ministry announced. They are suspected of collecting “state secrets in order to transfer it to a foreign state or organization”.
“We have received the letters from the prosecutors with the allegations. We will undertake the actions that we are obliged to undertake and will most probably declare them ‘persona non grata”, said the country’s foreign minister, Ekaterina Zaharieva.
The chief prosecutor’s office said that the first diplomat, a consular first secretary, collected information on elections from 2017, while the second, an official at Russia’s trade representation, gathered sensitive information on the energy sector and energy security from 2018. Russia is Bulgaria’s biggest energy supplier.
The Russian Embassy confirmed the diplomats will leave the country. It, however added that “no evidence confirming their activities incompatible with their status were presented”. It also warned that “Russia reserves the right to take tit-for-tat measures”.
The accusation comes a day after three Russians were charged by Bulgarian prosecutors with the 2015 attempted murder by poisoning of a Bulgarian weapons trader and his son.