Bulgarian Prime Minister comments on expulsion of ROC priests from country

St Nicholas’s Church in Sofia. Photo: rutraveller.ru

Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov said that the decision to expel the priests of the Russian Orthodox Church from the country was not made by him personally but by the national security agency, reports the Bulgarian News Agency BTA.

Denkov explained that the decision to expel the ROC priests from Bulgaria "was based on a classified report".

"I have only reviewed it, and I am not directly involved in making this decision. This is a decision of the state national security agency," the official said.

On the Facebook page of the Russian Embassy in Bulgaria, it is mentioned that the Russian Orthodox Church of St Nicholas the Wonderworker in Sofia will cease its activities at this stage, and its future will be decided by the Russian Orthodox Church.

Furthermore, Russia's Ambassador to Sofia, Eleonora Mitrofanova, stated that Bulgaria's Ambassador to Moscow, Atanas Krastin, will be summoned to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the situation that has developed.

At the same time, Mitrofanova noted: "In Moscow, no one will take mirror actions against the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Because we are not barbarians."

As reported, the Bulgarian Church reacted to the expulsion of the ROC priests from Sofia.

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