Bulgaria on September 21 said it was expelling one Russian and two Belarusian nationals for carrying out “activities directed against” the country's national security and interests.
The announcement followed a statement by the Russian Embassy in Sofia that said Bulgaria had expelled the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in the country, Archimandrite Vassian, and two other clerics.
Bulgaria’s State Agency for National Security (DANS) said in statement that the three had worked to “purposefully influence the social and political processes in Bulgaria in favor of Russian geopolitical interests.”
The agency did not mention the full name of the expelled citizens. But the Russian national’s initials -- N.Z. -- match those of Archimandrite Vassian’s secular name -- Nikolai Zmeyev.
The three expelled individuals have been stripped of the right of residence and barred from entering Bulgaria for a period of five years.
Russian Ambassador to Bulgaria Eleonora Mitrofanova told the Russian state news agency TASS earlier on September 21 that the three clerics were summoned to the migration office and were told they had to leave Bulgaria because they “represent a threat to Bulgaria’s national security.”
In a statement published on its social media channels, the Russian Embassy in Sofia condemned the expulsion of the three clerics saying it was a “flagrant action.”
Earlier in September, Bulgarian lawmaker Atanas Atanasov said Archimandrite Vassian was “a representative of Russian intelligence in a robe.”
Atanasov’s comments followed reports that Archimandrite Vassian, using diplomatic status, was among three Russian diplomats expelled from neighboring North Macedonia earlier this month.
On September 16 Skopje said it ordered the expulsion of three Russians without mentioning their names or specifying the reasons.
In December 2022, the Russian Orthodox Church in Sofia faced protests against the visit of a high-ranking representative of the Moscow Patriarchate, invited by Archimandrite Vassian. The Russian Orthodox Church has supported Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
In 2022, Bulgaria, a member of NATO and the European Union, expelled 70 Russian diplomatic staff in a move that severely strained diplomatic ties between the two countries, which were close allies during communist times.