The Bulgarian authorities have decided to expel Archimandrite Vassian, the rector of the Russian Orthodox Church’s suburb in Sofia, from the country. This was reported to the media by the Russian Embassy in Bulgaria, Pravblog writes.

According to Russian diplomats, Bulgaria felt that Father Vassian “poses a threat to national security.”

Russian Ambassador to Bulgaria Eleonora Mitrofanova said that on Thursday the ROC priests “were summoned to the migration service, where they were announced that they were a threat to Bulgaria’s national security and must leave the country today.”

“At the same time, they were put into an autozak and taken to their homes so that they could collect their belongings, then they will be taken to the church and further to the border with Serbia,” she said.

According to Mitrofanova, “this is an unprecedented event, the Church is separated from the state, and it is incomprehensible how clerics can threaten national security.”

“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 ambassador said.