Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski has confirmed media reports he will attend the upcoming Winter Olympics in Russia’s Sochi.

The embattled Socialist Prime Minister, whose government is known to have warm ties with Russia, told reporters in parliament he will attend the opening ceremony on February 7.

“Bulgaria is not one of those big and rich countries, which can afford to boycott the Olympics,“ Oresharski said.

Meanwhile, the Trud daily has cited its own sources as saying that President Plevneliev, a distinctly pro-Western politician, is to attend the closing ceremony on February 23.

It was made clear last week that US President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will not attend the Winter Olympics.

German President Joachim Gauck, the European Union’s commissioner for Justice, Citizenship and Fundamental Rights Viviane Reding, and French President Francois Hollande are also snubbing the event, presumably due to Russia’s questionable human rights record.

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