Bulgaria carpets North Korea’s chargé d’affaires over support for Russia’s war on Ukraine
Bulgaria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on November 5 that it had summoned the chargé d’affaires of the embassy of North Korea, Choi Yun-chon, in connection with reports about the presence of North Korean military formations in Russia for subsequent participation in the illegal war against Ukraine.
The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry’s director-general of political affairs, Gergana Karadzhova, stated Bulgaria’s position that through its actions, North Korea was becoming an accomplice to Russia in its unprovoked and unjustified aggression against independent and sovereign Ukraine, in gross violation of international law and the fundamental principles of United Nations Charter, the ministry said.
Karadzhova said that Bulgaria sees these actions as a unilateral hostile act with serious consequences for European and global peace and security, which are creating the conditions for a dangerous expansion of Russian aggression.
She described the current escalation as a sign of Russia’s disinterest in achieving a just, comprehensive and lasting peace, in spite of repeated statements of its readiness to negotiate.
Karadzhova said that by changing its position on the denuclearization of North Korea, Russia was backing away from its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), including the pursuit of nuclear non-proliferation, in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions.
The statement said that North Korea would never obtain the status of a nuclear state under the NPT.
Bulgaria reaffirmed the positions in the statements by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on October 25 2024 and the statement by the Nato Secretary General on October 28 2024, expressing firm solidarity with the EU’s strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific region and Bulgaria’s intention to work in close coordination with them, including on countermeasures.
Bulgaria called for an end to aid to Russia and condemned the actions of countries that support Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
The Foreign Ministry condemned the latest launch by North Korea of an intercontinental ballistic missile on October 31 2024, and called for the immediate cessation of provocative and destabilizing actions that threaten peace and security not only on the Korean Peninsula, but also on a global level, the statement said.
(Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
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