Bulgaria not to expel Russian diplomats over Skripal case, wants more evidence: PM

Bulgaria wanted more evidence on the Skripal case and would not expel Russian diplomats for now, the country's Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said here on Friday after a meeting of the governmental Security Council.



Bulgaria expected more evidence, if any, of Russia's role claimed by Britain in the poisoning of the former Russian spy and British double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the British city of Salisbury on March 4, Borissov said.



"At this time, we do not think we should expel diplomats or technical staff from the embassy of the Russian Federation," Borissov said.



He said Bulgaria has already shown its solidarity with Britain by supporting European Council and NATO decisions on the Skripal case, and by summoning its ambassador to Moscow for consultations.



Meanwhile, as the country that is holding the rotating presidency of the council of the European Union, Bulgaria should remain as a channel of communication to Russia, Borissov said.



Bulgarian ambassador would return to Moscow on April 8, he added.



On Wednesday, when answering a reporter's question, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said that "solidarity is an important principle, but it should not be blind."



"In such serious cases, irrefutable evidence is needed," Radev said.



Also on Wednesday, Kristian Vigenin, secretary of the parliamentary group of the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party and former Bulgaria's foreign minister, said that "to date, we have not seen convincing evidence, not to say any evidence that Russia was directly involved in the Scripal case."

