Today, I sent a letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan, regarding the discriminatory attitude shown to the citizens of the Republic of Armenia at the airport of Sofia, the capital of the Republic of Bulgaria.
People were imprisoned for days in a jail cage, sometimes not even being able to buy food.
Alerted citizens told me that Bulgarian border guards made Armenian tourists wait for hours, then days, at the airport (until the next Sofia-Yerevan flight).
There are reports that they mocked them, treated them rudely, even prevented them from buying food (there are also reports of violence), and some were banned from entering the country altogether.
I would like to emphasize that the Armenian citizens who were discriminated against in Sofia had Schengen visas issued by the Bulgarian Embassy in Armenia.
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In other words, the entry of citizens to Sofia was legal, but they were forbidden to enter that country.
I requested the minister to give the following clarifications.
What has the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia done to protect and restore the rights of citizens?
What explanation did the official Sofia give regarding what happened?
Has the RA MFA asked the question of punishing the border guards who have been involved in illegal behavior with RA citizens and what was the answer?
I will also make the clarifications public.
Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs of the National Assembly of RA, whose powers have been illegally terminated, nonpartisan MP TAGUHI TOVMASYAN
