MOSCOW: Russia said Thursday it was expelling a Bulgarian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move after Sofia asked a Russian diplomat to leave the country over suspicions of espionage.
The Russian foreign ministry said the Bulgarian ambassador in Moscow, Atanas Krastin, had been handed a note informing him that an employee of the mission was declared “persona non grata.”
“The step is a retaliatory measure in response to a decision by the Bulgarian authorities to expel a Russian diplomat from the country in October,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
No further details were provided.
In late October, Sofia expelled a Russian diplomat after he ignored a request to leave following a probe which confirmed he had been spying in the EU member country.
The Russian ambassador was told at the time that the diplomat in question, a first secretary at the embassy in Sofia, has 24 hours to leave the country.
NATO and EU member Bulgaria was previously a Soviet satellite and is now a rare ally of Russia in Europe.
But tensions spiked in September when Bulgarian prosecutors charged a pro-Russian activist, Nikolay Malinov, with espionage and banned his alleged Russian handler from entering Bulgaria.
Malinov, a former lawmaker, heads Rusofili, the largest pro-Russia non-governmental organization in Bulgaria.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has given a state award to Malinov.
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Russia expels Bulgarian diplomat in spy affair
Russia expels Bulgarian diplomat in spy affair
- The Russian ambassador was told at the time that the diplomat in question has 24 hours to leave the country
- The foreign ministry in Russia said Krastin had been handed a note informing him that an employee of the mission was declared “persona non grata.”
US Homeland Security to pause two key travel programs amid shutdown, Washington Post says
- DHS began a partial shutdown last week after Republicans and Democrats failed to reach a deal on immigration enforcement reforms
The US Department of Homeland Security will temporarily suspend from Sunday its PreCheck and Global Entry programs that speed airport security checks for some travelers, the Washington Post said, due to a shutdown at much of the agency.
The halt in the programs run by the DHS will begin from 6 a.m. ET (1100 GMT), the newspaper cited an agency spokesperson as saying on Saturday.
DHS began a partial shutdown last week after Republicans and Democrats failed to reach a deal on immigration enforcement reforms.
The pause in programs is among the emergency measures DHS is taking to redirect staffing more than a week after Congress failed to send it more money, the paper said.
The agency is “making tough but necessary workforce and resource decisions” and prioritizing the “general traveling population” at entry points, the paper cited Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as saying in a statement.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
TSA’s PreCheck program allows approved passengers through a dedicated, faster security lane at US airports and is designed to reduce wait times and streamline screening.
Global Entry expedites US customs and immigration clearance for pre-approved, low-risk international travelers entering the United States.
On Thursday, the Trump administration ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a part of the DHS, to suspend the deployment of hundreds of aid workers to disaster-affected areas, due to the DHS shutdown.
The halt in the programs run by the DHS will begin from 6 a.m. ET (1100 GMT), the newspaper cited an agency spokesperson as saying on Saturday.
DHS began a partial shutdown last week after Republicans and Democrats failed to reach a deal on immigration enforcement reforms.
The pause in programs is among the emergency measures DHS is taking to redirect staffing more than a week after Congress failed to send it more money, the paper said.
The agency is “making tough but necessary workforce and resource decisions” and prioritizing the “general traveling population” at entry points, the paper cited Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as saying in a statement.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
TSA’s PreCheck program allows approved passengers through a dedicated, faster security lane at US airports and is designed to reduce wait times and streamline screening.
Global Entry expedites US customs and immigration clearance for pre-approved, low-risk international travelers entering the United States.
On Thursday, the Trump administration ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a part of the DHS, to suspend the deployment of hundreds of aid workers to disaster-affected areas, due to the DHS shutdown.
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