Bulgaria expels head of Russian Orthodox Church, two more priests

Bulgaria has expelled the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in Sofia and two Belarusian priests for allegedly acting in Moscow's geopolitical interests, authorities said.

The National Security Agency accused on Thursday the three clerics of implementing Moscow's "hybrid strategy to purposefully influence the socio-political processes in Bulgaria in favour of Russian geopolitical interests".

The agency, which only identified the men by their initials and nationalities, banned them from entering the country for five years.

The Russian embassy in Sofia said in a Facebook post that one of the men was the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in Sofia, Archimandrite Vassian.

'Rude and flagrant'

"The current Bulgarian leadership has set itself the task of destroying... the socio-political, cultural and humanitarian ties between our states," it said, describing the decision as "rude (and) flagrant".

A member of the European Union and NATO, Bulgaria is a Slavic and Orthodox country with close historical and cultural ties to Russia.

But relations have been strained since Russia launched its war against Ukraine, with Sofia expelling 70 Russian diplomatic staff last year.