`Welcome to Bulgaria  - get undressed` - flagman.bg; RA MFA silent 

ArmInfo.Bulgarian border police have surpassed  all imaginable limits of rudeness and stupidity. On October 1, at  Vasil Levski Airport in Sofia, they detained an official delegation  of the Armenian community of Ani, subjected them to harassment, and  even forced them to undress. Apparently, joining the Schengen zone  has gone to the heads of the Border Police, who have decided to  become more Catholic than the Pope.

According to the publication, the head of the Ani community, Arman  Saribekyan, and the delegation of municipal officials accompanying  them were received at Vasil Levski Airport in Sofia as illegal  refugees. Border guards took them into a building, forced them to  undress, searched them, and interrogated them for two and a half  hours. Novi Pazar Municipality Head Georgi Georgiev, at whose  invitation the Armenians arrived in Bulgaria, told the publication  this. Novi Pazar Deputy Mayor Ayan Mehmedov was waiting for them at  the airport. The Armenian delegation was scheduled to sign an  agreement with the Bulgarian municipality on international  cooperation in culture, education, sports, tourism, and the economy,  after the two cities decided to become sister cities.

"This happened on October 1st. But four days later, I still have no  official reaction from the Bulgarian authorities to this humiliating  behavior toward our guests," he said.

The Armenian guests brought a painting from Armenia as a gift. During  a search, police officers broke its frame. "I can't say that this was  a deliberate attack on our official guests specifically, but of all  the passengers on the plane from Yerevan, the police decided to  detain and question only them. After 20 minutes, a border guard  showed up and asked me if I was expecting anyone. When he learned I  was at the airport with the Armenian delegation, he went home. But  despite this, they weren't released; they were held for almost two  more hours," said the deputy mayor of Novi Pazar.

"Our Armenian guests tried to speak to the police in Russian, but  they replied that they didn't understand the language. When they  finally let them go, the mayor of Ani told me, 'If you don't believe  me about what happened inside, there were cameras there. Ask to see  the footage,'" said Ayan Mehmedov.

It's worth noting that this is far from the first incident of  Bulgarian border guards abusing passengers arriving from Yerevan.  While the Armenian Embassy in Sofia periodically speaks out, and this  time issued a letter of protest, it appears the embassy level is  unable to calm the rude border police.

Earlier, last year, when several such incidents were recorded,  Bulgarian officials cited the lack of a stable government in  Bulgaria, the simultaneous crisis of its party and political system,  and the Border Police's indifference to the work of the Foreign  Ministry. But the situation has changed; Bulgaria has had a new,  stable government since January. I wouldn't want to think that "a  hunchback can be straightened out by the grave."

However, it's unfortunate that the Armenian Foreign Ministry has  never responded to a single instance of such lawlessness, never  issued a note of protest at its highest level.  However, the incident  was greatly appreciated by the Azerbaijani media, which came out with  the sly headlines "Official Armenian delegation humiliated at  Bulgarian airport."