Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently went to Europe to attend a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Originally, his special plane was supposed to fly over Bulgaria's airspace, but Bulgaria suddenly reversed its word, claiming that if there was Russian spokesman Zakharova on the plane, it would not allow it to enter the airspace. Russia was not convinced, and Lavrov's special plane flew over Turkey and Greece on a reroute, flying more than 4,000 kilometers and taking more than five hours. Russia is very dissatisfied with this move by Bulgaria and has formed a deep enmity with it.
Bulgaria thought that it could exert pressure on Russia with the support of NATO, but it did not expect that it would become the target of public criticism.
Bulgaria announced in October that it would charge a transit fee of 20 leva per megawatt hour, equivalent to 79 yuan, for natural gas passing through its territory from Russia, according to the Global Times. This decision made Bulgaria regret it in just two months.
Because Russia did not sit idly by, but directly increased the ** of natural gas in order to compensate for its own losses. But in this way, those European countries that rely on Russian gas can't stand it, they think that Russia's price increase is entirely because Bulgaria's taxes have angered Russia, so this pot must be borne by Bulgaria.
According to the report, some European countries, led by Hungary, have begun to exert pressure on Bulgaria and give Bulgaria a blow on the issue of the Schengen area. The Schengen Area is a region of 27 European countries, and according to the agreement, international travelers with Schengen visas can move freely between these countries without having to apply for visas repeatedly, which is of great benefit to tourism and the movement of people, while European countries that are not part of the Schengen Area will lose a lot of income.
Bulgaria has been trying to join the Schengen Area since joining the European Union in 2007, but has been blocked by some countries. And now, they are hinting that Bulgaria will have to show a friendly attitude on the Russian issue if it wants to join the Schengen area. Bulgaria understood what they meant, and the report ended by pointing out that Bulgaria will abolish taxes on Russian gas in order to improve relations with EU countries in order to join the Schengen area.
Bulgaria's attempts to show toughness on the Russian issue, refusing to allow Zakharova's plane to fly over its airspace, as well as imposing a tax on Gazprom, are all provocations against Russia.
But now, Bulgaria has not gained anything in intercepting Zakharova, but has to cancel the tax on Russian gas, and it goes without saying that Bulgaria is the biggest loser in this game.
This also proves once again that in the great power game, a small country like Bulgaria is often unable to make waves, and in the end it can only put itself in an embarrassing situation.