Foreign Ministry: Three Russian Diplomats Declared Personae non Gratae

The Foreign Ministry confirmed on Saturday that three Russian diplomats in North Macedonia had been declared personae non gratae. On 12 September, the Russian Ambassador in Skopje was summoned to the Ministry and was handed a diplomatic note informing him of the decision about the three diplomats from the Russian Embassy.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the decision follows information from relevant organs about activities carried out in contradiction with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Russia’s stand is that the decision is an irresponsible and hostile act that will not go unanswered. When it comes to the ban on entry for the chair of the Russian Orthodox Church in Sofia, Archimandrite Vassian Zmeev, it has caused reactions in Bulgaria. The country’s security services have been criticised and asked why they haven’t discovered the activity Zmeev would carry out.