Bulgaria continues to issue tourist visas to citizens of the Russian Federation, however, deadlines for providing services have increased for technical reasons. The announcement was made on Saturday, August 6, at the Bulgarian embassy in Moscow.
“The embassy consulate is working and the issuance of tourist visas for Russian citizens has not stopped,” the TASS agency said, citing the representative of the diplomatic mission. “At the moment, for technical reasons, we are working in an atypical way, the service delivery deadlines are longer than usual”, he added.
The agency’s interlocutor also denied that the issuance of visas to Russian owners had been suspended.
ACTOR: Suspension of acceptance of documents from Russians
Earlier, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) reported that the Bulgarian consular service in the Russian Federation indefinitely suspends the acceptance of documents from Russians for tourist visas and visas for property owners.
According to tour operators, the Bulgarian consulate in Moscow has informed them of a temporary suspension of accepting documents – “due to the current emergency situation”, said ATOR.
Expulsion of 14 officials from the Bulgarian embassy and consulates
Earlier, on August 5, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the expulsion of 14 officials from the Bulgarian embassy and consulates. The note declaring the diplomats persona non grata was delivered to the Bulgarian ambassador to the Russian Federation, Atanas Krystin, who was summoned to Smolenskaya Square, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Moscow said it was in response to Sofia’s decision to expel 70 Russian diplomats, introduce quotas for the number of Russian diplomatic, administrative and technical staff in Bulgaria and temporarily close the Russian Consulate General in Ruse.
70 Russian diplomats forced to leave Bulgaria
At the end of June, Bulgaria announced the expulsion of 70 Russian diplomatic and administrative officials. Sofia’s decision was supported by the European External Action Service (SEAE), which pointed out that Russian embassy officials violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. For its part, NATO expressed solidarity with Bulgaria and emphasized that its decision to expel Russian officials is sovereign and must be respected.
Source: DW
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