MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia on Thursday warned Bulgaria that it would retaliate against Sofia for its decision to expel a Russian journalist on national security grounds, something it called an “outrageous” attack on the media.
Alexander Gatsak, a correspondent for the state-owned Rossiyskaya Gazeta, was stripped of his accreditation and residency permit and expelled for what Bulgaria said was activity “posing a threat to national security”.
Gatsak sought refuge in the Russian embassy after being summoned by Bulgaria’s interior ministry and left Bulgaria on Nov. 1, according to the Bulgarian State Agency for National Security.
Maria Zakharova, Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, said the expulsion was an “outrageous attack” and cautioned that Moscow would take retaliatory measures.
Bulgaria’s action was “a vivid example of violence against journalists which has already become a familiar form of pressure on journalists in the countries of the so-called advanced democracies,” Zakharova said.
Rossiyskaya Gazeta said Gatsak had worked in Sofia for several years, including on material that was critical of the Bulgarian authorities.
The newspaper said another of its correspondents, Alexander Gasyuk, who worked in Cyprus, had been detained in Nicosia in October. It said he was beaten by local police and then deported.
Russia summoned Cyprus’s ambassador over that incident.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
