Bulgarian security forces Raid, deport Hamas delegation

Bulgarian security forces on Friday raided the temporary residences of a visiting Hamas delegation in Sofia, and then expelled the officials from the country, according to JPost reports through Ma'an. On Wednesday, 13 February, a delegation from Hamas arrived in Bulgaria to present the "Palestinian narrative and expose the false Israeli narrative on the Palestinians and Hamas." The visit was the first official visit by Hamas authorities to an EU member state. According to JPost, Palestinian news organization Ma'an quoted a statement released by Hamas' parliamentary list as saying that the Bulgarian raids were at least in part prompted by Israeli, US and British pressure. The Bulgarian government has rejected reports that these meetings took place between official representatives of the government and Hamas officials. Ismail al-Ashkar, head of the Hamas parliamentary list, led the delegation. Hamas legislators Salah Bardaweel and Mushir al-Masri, who is also a spokesman for the Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip, accompanied him. Bardaweel reported to Ynet that local police arrived at the delegation's hotel and took the members to the airport with the intent of deporting them to Turkey. Bulgarian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Vessela Tcherneva told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that "Bulgaria is part of the EU politics as listing Hamas as a terror organization." She added that the Hamas representatives are "on a private visitation of an NGO" in Sofia.