Bulgaria confirms Russian Patriarch Kirill removed from EU's 21st Russia sanctions package

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova has said that the names of Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill and Lukoil founder Vagit Alekperov have been removed from the draft of the 21st EU package of sanctions against Russia, allowing Bulgaria to fully support the package.

Source: Bulgarian Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova on the sidelines of the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting on 13 July, as reported by European Pravda

Quote from Petrova: "Bulgaria's reservations were taken into account, and these two individuals are no longer in the proposed package, so for our part we are ready to support it."

Details: She also said that, at Bulgaria's request, the head of a company supplying components for the Sofia metro was removed from the proposed sanctions list.

Petrova added that the lack of consensus on adopting the EU's 21st package of sanctions against Russia following the Coreper meeting on 12 July was due to reservations from two other countries.

"Consensus was not reached because two countries, not Bulgaria, have their own reservations that were not taken into account. In our case, our position was considered, so we could support it. An important message here is that defending a national position does not lead to isolation," Petrova stressed.

According to her, Greece has certain reservations in the energy sector, while Austria has concerns in the financial sector.

"These are internal matters of the respective countries," Petrova concluded.

Background:

• European Pravda had earlier reported, citing its own sources, that Patriarch Kirill and Lukoil founder Vagit Alekperov were removed from the 21st sanctions package.
• It was also suggested that the adoption of the package could be delayed.
• Previously, Bulgaria demanded the removal of Patriarch Kirill from the package and was later joined by Italy.

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