It was a blunder to set up an ad-hoc committee in parliament to probe alleged interference of Russia and Turkey into Bulgaria’s domestic affairs, a lawmaker from the main party in the governing coalition has opined.

Metodi Andreev, a member of parliament from GERB party, told Radio Focus on Saturday that the ad-hoc committee was irrelevant, as it could neither draw any conclusion, nor offer any meaningful recommendation.   

“When there is a conflict between Turkey and Russia, the first postulate, the first axiom is that Bulgaria must not take sides in the conflict between two empires. Moreover, Bulgaria can protect its national interests very well in such circumstances but damaging relations with one of the states for the benefit of the other is not a pre-condition for such protection,” Andreev said.

Bulgaria must maintain its good relationship with both Russia and Turkey, which are its immediate neighbours, Andreev added.

“It’s good to know what Bulgaria’s priorities are and to what extent the country’s neighbours are being allowed to show interest in its domestic politics. Bulgaria knows what the boundaries of its national security are and it must use the powers of the respective security services to thwart any attempt of any of the two empires to cross that line. There is no need to set up committees.”

Andreev spoke a day after Russia and Bulgaria traded barbs over the establishment of the ad-hoc committee.

The Russian Foreign Ministry lashed out at Bulgarian MPs on Friday for setting up the ad-hoc committee, describing the development as a ludicrous act. The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry replied by saying that  Moscow’s reaction was “a disregard for good manners”.

Bulgaria should not be surprised by its role of a battleground in the currentconflict between Turkey and Russia, former Bulgarian ambassador to Moscow Ilian Vassilev opined earlier this week.