Bulgaria’s lawmakers, except the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the radical pro-Russian Vazrazhdane, who make up 60 of the 240 MPs – have proposed a declaration supporting Ukraine’s expected future NATO membership once the war ends.
Under the proposed declaration, the most direct and desirable path to the restoration of peace in Ukraine, the Black Sea region, and Europe is the complete and immediate voluntary withdrawal of Russia from the internationally recognised borders of all sovereign states affected by it.
The declaration also demands that Russia immediately cease all its actions that contradict the UN Charter, supports the peace formula of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and demands that Bulgaria continue to provide political, financial, humanitarian, military and military-technical assistance to Ukraine until the full restoration of its sovereignty within its internationally recognised borders.
The declaration received support from the long-time ruling GERB party, the Turkish minority party DPS, the pro-European coalition We Continue the Change–Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) and the populist ITN. The new Bulgarian government that GERB and PP-DB support is strongly pro-European orientated, unlike the caretaker governments appointed by President Rumen Radev that were in power until recently.
The document also states that parliament “expects the Bulgarian government, including at the upcoming summit of the Alliance in Vilnius in July 2023, to express a position in support of Ukraine’s NATO membership after the restoration of peace on its territory.” Allies are urged to use the meeting in Vilnius to outline clear parameters for Ukraine’s NATO membership.
On 29 June, parliament heard Defence Minister Todor Tagarev in connection with the inclusion of Bulgaria in the EU Initiative to provide one million rounds of ammunition for Ukraine, financed by the European Peace Initiative, and the stated readiness of Bulgaria to prepare combat medics and combat paramedics to help Ukraine. Radev and his caretaker government were against Bulgaria taking part in this initiative, but the new government had a different approach.
According to Tagarev, Bulgaria will join the project for the joint procurement of ammunition after national coordination, adopting a decision by the Council of Ministers and signing an agreement.
Tagarev noted that Bulgaria expects compensation of nearly €330,000 for the aid it provided to Ukraine at the start of the war which was in the form of uniforms, shoes and bandages.
(Krassen Nikolov | EURACTIV.bg)
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