Bulgarian Prime Minister’s comments on Russian propagandist’s expulsion

The propagandist “simply has no right to be on Bulgarian soil, because he has violated our laws and must leave, and this is unrelated to his journalistic activities,” Bulgaria’s prime minister said. The BNR portal quoted Denkov’s words.

“The fact that he was in the embassy doesn’t change anything,” he added, referring to Gatsak’s stay at the Russian embassy in an attempt to evade expulsion.

When asked if Russia will retaliate, Bulgaria’s prime minister stated, “I have no such information, but when someone violates the laws of Bulgaria, they must leave.”

Bulgaria expelled a Russian propagandist and barred him from entering the European Union.

The National Security Agency of Bulgaria previously stated that the nation had evicted Rossiyskaya Gazeta correspondent Aleksandr Gatsak and barred him from entering the EU.

Gatsak was summoned to the Migration Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and then to the DANS on September 29, but he refused to attend and “hid in the Russian Embassy.” The Russian left Bulgaria on November 1st, following the involvement of the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry.

“Rossiyskaya Gazeta is the Russian government’s official publication and the place where decisions and orders are published before they become effective.”

In September, Bulgaria’s National Security Agency announced the expulsion of a Russian Orthodox Church representative and two additional priests, both Belarus citizens.

The priests, according to Bulgarian security agencies, were part of Russia’s hybrid strategy to “target social and political processes in the Republic of Bulgaria in favor of Russian geopolitical interests.”