Igor FedykOn September 21, The Bulgarian authorities expelled from the country Archimandrite Vasian (Zmeev), head of the courtyard of the Russian Orthodox Church in Sofia. Along with Vasian, two more clerics of the Russian Orthodox Church were also expelled. All three Russians were accused of espionage for the Russian Federation and expelled with the sanction of the head of the State Agency for National Security of Bulgaria (SANS). On its official website, SANS commented on its actions against Vasian and two other representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church as follows: “Measures were applied in connection with their activities directed against national security and the interests of the Republic of Bulgaria. There is information about the actions of these persons related to the implementation of various elements of the Russian Federation’s hybrid strategy to purposefully influence the socio-political processes in the Republic of Bulgaria in favor of Russian geopolitical interests.”
The Russian embassy in Sofia sharply criticized the actions of the Bulgarian authorities. In its comment to the TASS news agency, the Russian ambassador in Sofia Eleonora Mitrofanova noted that on Thursday the priests of the Russian Orthodox Church “were called to the migration service, where they were told that they pose a threat to Bulgaria’s national security and should leave the country today.” “They were put in a paddy wagon and taken to their homes so that they could collect their belongings, after which they would be taken to the church and then to the border with Serbia,” she said.
“This is an unprecedented event, the church is separated from the state, and it is unclear how clergy can threaten national security,” Mitrofanova added. According to her, “many parishioners go to the Russian Church in Sofia” and such an event is “falling into the abyss.” “We can say that they simply spat in the face of our church, especially since it happened on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” the Russian ambassador said.
Later it became known from the comment of the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Maria Zakharova, posted on the Telegram channel of the Russian Embassy in Bulgaria, that the Church of the Russian Orthodox Church in Bulgaria’s capital will be closed.
“There is no logical explanation for this outrageous [and] unfriendly act by the Bulgarian authorities.
We are outraged and shocked by what has occurred. It shows once again that the current administration of Bulgaria has definitively taken a path aimed at destroying not only political contacts between [the two] states but also cultural and humanitarian ties between our peoples. The goal now is to sever the brotherly ties between the peoples of Russia and Bulgaria.
The old Russian church, which was a place where Russians and Bulgarians prayed together for many years, will now be closed.
We again emphasize that responsibility for the rapid deterioration of bilateral relations between Russia and Bulgaria rests fully with the Bulgarian side,” Zakharova said.
For his part, the Prime Minister of Bulgaria Nikolay Denkov stated that according to the information of the SANS, the head of the courtyard of the Russian Orthodox Church in Sofia and two other clerics committed actions that do not correspond to their status in Bulgaria.
It should also be noted that two weeks earlier, the President of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski, stated that local security services received information from partner services that members of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church were working for Russian special services. After the Macedonian authorities accused Vasian of espionage and expelled him from the country, Atanas Atanasov, the head of the parliamentary committee for the control of special services, said that SANS was aware that Vasian was a representative of the Russian special services and criticized the local counter-intelligence for not taking measures on termination of its activities in the country.
“Everyone in everyone in SANS knows that this priest here is a representative of Russian intelligence in a robe. I ask the Bulgarian counter-intelligence – are they not ashamed that someone who lives and conducts intelligence activities in Bulgaria was expelled from Macedonia, but lives comfortably here,” said Atanasov.
Comment
– After Vasian (Zmeev) was expelled from North Macedonia for spying for the Russian Federation, his expulsion from Bulgaria was only a matter of time. Criticism of Atanas Atanasov, head of the parliamentary committee for control of the special services of Bulgaria (representing the pro-European formation “Democratic Bulgaria”), shows that he and other deputies from the pro-European forces in the parliament would keep the issue of Vasian under control and would press for his expulsion. By the way, this is not the first example of the expulsion of a representative of the Russian Orthodox Church from Bulgaria. In 2018, after a series of scandals, Vasian’s predecessor in Sofia, Philip (Vasyltsev), was expelled from Bulgaria.
– The words of the president of North Macedonia that the information about Vasian’s espionage activities was received from partner special services once again shows that NATO actively exchanges information about the activities of Russian intelligence on the territory of member countries. This, in turn, suggests that it will become increasingly difficult for the Russian special services to “work” on the territory of the Alliance. And it does not matter what cover they use – a diplomatic passport or a priest’s cassock.
– In Bulgaria, they believe that the long-term failure of the Macedonian Orthodox Church’s attempts to become independent (autocephalous) and the deterioration of its relations with the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is one of the results of the “work” of Vasian and Co. Also, one of Vasian’s main tasks in Bulgaria likely was to prevent the recognition of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
– Vasian’s expulsion is another correct and important step taken by the current Bulgarian government aimed at eliminating Russian influence in the country. However, the more such steps it takes, the more important the issue of strategic communication with Bulgarian society becomes. Especially when the Russian embassy and local pro-Russian political forces and activists are already engaged in their strategic communication.
– The sharp rhetoric of the Russian ambassador in Bulgaria Mitrofanova and the spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry Zakharova regarding the expulsion of representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church from Sofia is just evidence of the strategic communication of the Russian Federation with the Bulgarian society. The purpose of this communication is quite clear – to overthrow of the current government. Therefore, soon, we should expect a new wave of attacks on the Bulgarian government by local pro-Russian forces, which now, in addition to the already traditional accusations of treason (since it works for the country’s deeper integration into European and Euro-Atlantic structures, but not for its rapprochement with Russian Federation), will also hang the label of spiritually deprived on it.