There are no grounds to declare Ukraine's ambassador to Bulgaria, Olesya Ilashchuk, a "persona non grata," prime minister Rumen Radev told parliament today during question time. "Declaring someone persona non grata is a last resort. It has to rest on clear, solid facts," he said, adding that no such facts exist so far.
The question came from Vazrazhdane MP Kosta Stoyanov, who asked about what he called "systematic interference by Ukrainian ambassador Olesya Ilashchuk in Bulgaria's internal affairs" and whether Bulgaria would hand the ambassador a note recalling her.
Radev said the only thing on record so far is a verbal note the Ukrainian ambassador sent to Bulgarian institutions and the foreign ministry, asking for more information about Ukrainian citizen Oleg Nevzorov. Under the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, he said, it's normal for a diplomat to ask about their own citizens in a foreign country, and the ambassador was fully within her rights to send the note.
Nevzorov had been hit with a forced deportation order. It was later overturned by Denyo Denev, who was acting head of the State Agency for National Security (DANS) at the time. Prosecutors have since questioned Nevzorov as a witness.
Radev said he expects it to become clear why Denev overturned his own order. "There's no other case like this," the prime minister said, adding that this gives grounds to suspect there may have been pressure.
In early June, interior minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said there was evidence the Ukrainian ambassador had acted after the deportation order against Nevzorov was issued but before it was withdrawn.
Radev added that only prosecutors can say how the investigation is going.