In an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio Russia’s ambassador Anatoly Makarov expressed disappointment with the mixed signals coming from the Bulgarian government regarding the direction in which relations between Sofia and Moscow are developing.

On 9 September ambassador Makarov inaugurated an exhibition in Sofia entitled “75 years since the liberation of Eastern Europe from Nazism”. Concerning this exhibition the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry warned the Russian embassy not to interfere in the domestic political debate on the “liberation” thesis, pointing out that on 9 September, 1944, after the USSR had declared war on Bulgaria, a coup d'état was carried out in the country against the government which had declared it wanted to sever ties with Nazi Germany, followed by the occupation of Bulgaria by the USSR and the allies.

In his interview for the BNR, ambassador Makarov described this position as inappropriate and demanded the urgent convocation of the Russian-Bulgarian commission of historians to clear up the tension regarding the historic date 9 September, 1944.