site.btaIran Doesn’t Consider Bulgaria a Target, Says Foreign Minister Neynsky

Bulgaria has received assurances from Iran that it faces no danger and is not considered a target, caretaker Foreign Minister Nadezhda Neynsky said Monday in an interview on the programme “Face to Face” on bTV.

Neynsky said: “At the start of the conflict, the charge d’affaires of the Bulgarian embassy in Iran held a meeting at the Iranian Foreign Ministry. He explained Bulgaria’s position, and we received assurances that there is no threat to Bulgaria and that we are not regarded as a target.” The Foreign Minister reiterated that neither Bulgaria nor NATO are parties to the conflict and that there is no direct threat to Bulgaria.

Regarding air and missile defence, Bulgaria relies heavily on its allies within NATO. For a missile to travel from Iran to Bulgaria, it would have to cross the entire territory of Turkiye. Turkiye’s air and missile defence protects Bulgaria from such threats, the Foreign Minister explained. Bulgaria does not have missile defence, but it does possess air and anti-drone defence systems, she added.

More than 2,600 Bulgarian citizens have been evacuated so far, with the number expected to rise to just over 3,000. “We are coordinating a unique operation to evacuate such a large number of Bulgarian citizens,” Neynsky said. “I hope that by tomorrow or the day after, everyone who requested evacuation will have been brought out,” she added. In the next day or two, a plane will be dispatched from Riyadh to evacuate the remaining Bulgarians, she explained. From Iran, all those who requested evacuation have been transported via Azerbaijan, she noted.

The situation centre at the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry will prepare a report after the evacuation is completed, Neynsky said. She explained that instructions and criteria for the evacuation were issued from the start, including prioritization of who would be evacuated first. According to her, families with young children, the elderly and people with health problems were prioritized. “Whether on-site personnel – diplomatic staff – acted improperly will be assessed in the forthcoming report,” the Foreign Minister added.