The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, is coming to Bulgaria on Thursday, sources from the Bulgarian government confirmed to Mediapool. The information was first reported by the publication “24 Chasa”, and then by other media. In the evening, the Council of Ministers said that they could not confirm the spread information, but later the Minister of Defense Todor Tagarev admitted about the visit. Probably the reason for its secret preparation was security considerations.
“For such a visit, preparations have been going on for some time, it is not public. I regret that information has leaked into the public space.” Defense Minister Todor Tagarev told TV 1 on Tuesday evening. He specified that he hoped that the leak of information would not thwart the arrival of the Ukrainian president.
According to people in the know, the visit is a sign of appreciation for the assistance provided by Bulgaria to Ukraine.
The Ukrainian side is expected to present new wishes for support.
The visit of the President of Ukraine comes after MPs refused to hear his address in the last parliament.
Previously, the deputies of the 47th Parliament also refused to listen to the Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, who spent several days in Sofia trying to negotiate arms aid.
The news of Zelensky’s visit coincides with today’s decision of the parliamentary Committee on Foreign Policy to approve the draft declaration in support of Ukraine’s membership in NATO. 11 people’s representatives voted “for”, three were against.
The draft says that the 49th National Assembly (NA) declares that 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 the Russian Federation from the internationally recognized borders of the states of all sovereign states affected by it.
The National Assembly categorically demands an end to nuclear blackmail, as well as to all actions of the Russian Federation, which are in sharp contradiction to the UN Charter and represent the most serious blow to the peace and prosperity of both the European and Russian peoples. Supports the peace formula of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, whose goal is a lasting and just peace.
In order to guarantee Ukraine’s ability to defend itself from the aggressor on its territory, the National Assembly insists that the institutions in Bulgaria continue to provide it with political, financial, humanitarian, military, military-technical support, until the full restoration of its sovereignty within the internationally recognized borders, it is stated in the document.
The 49th National Assembly reaffirms its full support for NATO’s independent Open Door policy; expects the Bulgarian government incl. and at the upcoming Summit of the Alliance in Vilnius in July this year. to express a position in support of Ukraine’s membership in NATO, after the restoration of peace on its territory. At the same time, he calls on allies to use the Summit to outline clear parameters on the path to Ukraine’s NATO membership.
The text also states that the parliament supports the initiation of the planning process and the adoption of specific parameters and a time frame for Ukraine’s membership in the Alliance and expansion of strategic relations.
On the eve of the extremely important NATO meeting in Vilnius next week, 4 parliamentary groups – GERB, PP-DB, DPS and ITN – submitted a joint draft declaration on Ukraine, said Ekaterina Zaharieva from GERB.
Zaharieva recalled that Bulgaria has always supported NATO’s open door policies. At the same time, she acknowledged that for years this Western support was only lip service because allies were afraid of angering Putin. But the brutal war against Ukraine has changed the situation.
“After the restoration of peace, Ukraine should become a member of NATO. It must be given a clear perspective to carry out reforms. The security of Europe and Bulgaria cannot be guaranteed without peace”, emphasized Zaharieva.
Deputy Foreign Minister Tihomir Stoychev said that the draft declaration meets the goals of Bulgarian foreign policy.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomes the initiative to adopt a declaration in support of Ukraine’s membership in NATO. The draft declaration is fully in line with NATO’s open door policy, which was announced in Bucharest in 2008,” Stoychev said.
“It is good that the parliament and the government look in the same direction”, said Zaharieva and added: “Allies and Ukraine should make the decisions about their future, not by a third country”.
Vazrazhdane spoke out against the declaration, saying it leads to diplomatic tension. “Vazrazhdane” believes that the document is hasty, because it is not clear whether Ukraine will exist as a state after the war.
This position caused a sharp reaction from GERB.
“Please do not repeat the lies of Russian propaganda. To preserve the international order established after the Second World War. The open door policy must become effective with the military aid we provide to Ukraine,” said Daniel Mitov. According to him, the declaration will not lead to any diplomatic tension, because our relations with Russia are already at their lowest level.
Above all, we show the Bulgarian people that each country is sovereign to decide which unions to join, because the policy of “open doors” is a policy that Bulgaria supports not from today or yesterday, commented Ekaterina Zaharieva to journalists. With this declaration, we call on the Bulgarian government at the upcoming meeting in Vilnius to lobby for this and give clear support to Ukraine’s membership in NATO, she added.
This is a sign to Ukraine that one day, we hope soon, when peace returns, Ukraine will be able to count on Bulgarian support for its desire to join NATO and together guarantee our security, Hristo Ivanov from PP- told journalists DB.
2023-07-04 17:59:48
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