Bulgaria Sees as ‘Inappropriate’ Russia’s Comments on Parliamentary Inquiry Committee

Moscow’s reaction to the formation of an ad-hoc committee in Bulgaria’s parliament to look into alleged interference of Russia and Turkey into Bulgaria's internal affairs is “a disregard for good manners”, the Foreign Ministry in Sofia has said.

“Bulgaria is a parliamentary democracy, in which the National Assembly adopts sovereign resolutions based on its powers and prompted by the country's national interests.The executive branch of government in the Republic of Bulgaria does not take the option of commenting in a similar way on resolutions of the Russian Parliament, and sees the respective statements on the part of the executive branch of government of another State as a disregard for good manners,” Bulgarian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Betina Joteva said in a statement on Friday.

Earlier on Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, lashed out at Bulgarian MPs for setting up the ad-hoc inquiry committee tasked with investigating facts and circumstances related to allegations of Russian and Turkish interference in Bulgaria’s domestic affairs.

Such public statements could even be interpreted as a confirmation of the suggestions which had led to the establishment of the ad-hoc committee, Joteva said.

“In the present complicated international environment, characterized by numerous crises, conflicts and challenges, what we would expect from the Russian Federation is a constructive stand and contribution to solving the most important international problems rather than an inappropriate comment on the activity of the supreme legislative body of the Republic of Bulgaria by the Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson,” Joteva added.

Bulgaria's former ambassador to Moscow Ilian Vassilev said earlier this week that the country should not be surprised of being an area of collision between Turkey and Russia.