Three Bulgarians were arrested and sentenced to 15 months of prison on charges of espionage in Greece, Bulgarian news agency BTA quoted Greek news agency ANA-MPA as saying on August 29.

According to the Greek-language newspaper To Vima, the detained trio had taken pictures of military objects in the region of the city of Orestiada.

Two of the three Bulgarians are enlisted army staff, a sergeant and a private, Bulgaria's Defence Ministry confirmed. They were on holidays in Greece during their annual leave. Their stay in Greece had nothing to do with their work for the ministry, the ministry said.

BTA quoted Agence France-Presse (AFP) as saying that the two, a man and a woman, and their driver, also Bulgarian, were arrested on August 25 while taking photos of Greek military installations in the border town of Ormenio. Prior the attest, they were seen in a train, taking photos of other Greek military objects. Greek examining magistrates found numerous pictures of Greek military facilities taken with the Bulgarians' camera.

The trio appealed the sentence and were released on 1000 euro bail each until their appeal is heard, ANA-MPA said.

According to AFP, the Bulgarians claimed that they were in Greece as tourists and wanted to publish the photos in a Bulgarian military magazine.

Bulgaria's Defence Ministry immediately demanded a meeting with Greece's military attaché to Bulgaria.

Greek newspaper Avriani claimed that the Bulgarians' arrest was one the most serious cases of espionage in Greece. The two Bulgarians were serving at a US base in Bulgaria and the third one was involved with Bulgarian mafia, the newspaper claimed.

Lieutenant colonel Petyo Kirkov, who is in charge of the engineering battalion in Plovdiv, to which one of the two detained servicemen is attached, told reporters that the person in question would be dismissed from army if found guilty. Kirkov also said that one of the arrested had been on mission in Kosovo until July 2008 and was on annual leave.