MOSCOW. Oct 12 (Interfax) - Russia has declared two employees of the Bulgarian embassy in Moscow personae non gratae in retaliation for the expulsion of officers of the Russian trade mission to Bulgaria, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"On October 12, Bulgarian Ambassador Atanas Krystin was invited to the Russian Foreign Ministry and presented with a note declaring two employees of the Bulgarian embassy in Moscow personae non gratae," the Foreign Ministry said.
This is "a tit-for-tat response to the completely unfounded decision of the Bulgarian authorities to expel two deputies of the head of the Russian trade mission in Sofia in September," the ministry said.
The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said on September 23 that two employees of the Russian embassy had been declared personae non gratae over suspected espionage and had 72 hours to leave the country.
Bulgarian media said that the Bulgarian prosecution service had accused the two diplomats of gathering information about the Bulgarian army since 2016.