Lavrov: After the Mess Up in Bulgaria, our Embassy cannot Function Normally

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said today that the country's embassy in Sofia cannot work normally at the moment. According to him, the decision to expel dozens of diplomats and administrative officials is an "illegal mess up" of a prime minister with a "pro-American orientation".

At a press conference in Moscow with his Venezuelan colleague Carlos Faria, the Russian diplomat explained that the majority of the expelled officials ensured the normal functioning of the embassy.

"Now, after this farce, completely illegal in our estimation, in the estimation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the embassy is not able to work normally. Technically even now," Lavrov said.

Asked if he was planning to close the embassy, ​​he replied without thinking that "the comment is obvious - this is not an independent decision of the prime minister, who has a categorically unequivocally pro-American orientation, he is ready to fulfill any orders from his sovereign".

"The challenge", Lavrov explained, was "to kill the Bulgarians' historical memory, to destroy the foundation of relations hardened in a joint struggle for independence and many other situations, including in recent history. There was nothing special in this, it was simply Washington's policy, spread in other countries - to kill the historical memory of other peoples in the Balkans, mainly the Orthodox peoples".

The Russian Foreign Minister also stated that the decision was met "with surprise in Bulgaria itself, which is not based on the procedures established in the country for such kind of sudden actions". "Of course, we will respond in a mirrored manner," he concluded.

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