Possible Impeachment of Bulgarian President Radev Over Arms Supplies to Ukraine, Says Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

The new government in Sofia threatens Radev with impeachment, the authoritative “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” announces. This is what two foreign media are writing about Radev and the conflict related to Bulgarian arms supplies to Ukraine.

Will the new government in Sofia initiate impeachment proceedings against President Radev? The president has spoken out vehemently against the supply of ammunition to Ukraine, recalls Michael Martens in an article for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAC). It is possible that the head of state ignored a parliamentary decision to send weapons to the country attacked by Russia, the publication also points out.

A two-thirds majority could be mustered

The author explains that with the help of a third partner, the ruling coalition could probably muster the two-thirds parliamentary majority needed to remove the president. According to the FAC, the initiative for impeachment came from former intelligence chief Atanas Atanasov, leader of the DSB.

Atanasov argued that in November 2022, MPs overwhelmingly supported arms supplies to Ukraine and called for negotiations with NATO allies to clarify which Bulgarian weapons from the country’s stockpiles could be provided to Ukraine and be replaced by new ones from the West.

Radev’s rhetoric and thinking – from the Soviet era

But there is one problem in the whole thing, commented Martens and recalled that the parliamentary majority that adopted the resolution was not a governmental majority. “As has often happened in recent years, the country was led by a caretaker government appointed by President Radev,” the German publication wrote, describing Radev as a man “whose rhetoric, including on the ‘historical dispute’ over North Macedonia, has consistently demonstrated how enduring his thinking was shaped by the Soviet era and Bulgarian communism”.

“Frankfurter Rundschau” expressed a similar opinion about Radev. At the end of May, when it became clear that there were prospects of forming a cabinet between PP-DB and GERB, the publication wrote an article entitled “The new government in Bulgaria is not to Putin’s taste”. It claimed that Rumen Radev was “one of Putin’s most valuable friends in the West.

“Even if the new government in Sofia is pro-NATO, pro-European and pro-Ukrainian, its work can be hindered by President Radev,” Frankfurter Rundschau also wrote. Putin also does not like the fact that Bulgaria is one of the largest producers of ammunition in Europe. And in view of the war in Ukraine, this role of the country can be further strengthened, commented the publication.

Was there an instruction from Radev?

The delivery of Bulgarian ammunition to Ukraine is the key issue in the discussion surrounding the possible impeachment of President Radev. “If Atanas Atanasov’s thesis that the president may have ordered the interim government to deny Ukraine the military aid approved by the parliament is proven, this would already be grounds for impeachment,” commented the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. Whether there will even be an impeachment procedure and what position the Constitutional Court will take is completely unclear for now, writes Michael Martens.

“But even the very fact that this issue is being discussed shows that it will not be easy for Putin’s supporters and other friends of the Kremlin in Bulgaria in the foreseeable future,” predicted Martens. The author recalls that during the government of Kiril Petkov, Bulgarian arms supplies to Ukraine could only be carried out indirectly and secretly through intermediaries in Romania and Poland.

About Putinophilia in Bulgaria

“Putinophilia has by no means disappeared from the Bulgarian political landscape, but for now the parties that embody it are only in opposition. For Ukraine, this is not an unimportant issue. Bulgaria may be a small country with a population of only 7 million and with the most – the low average income in the EU, but the country’s arms factories are significant. During the Warsaw Pact, Bulgarian arms factories were among the largest in the so-called Eastern Bloc,” writes Michael Martens in FAC. The fact that they still produce Soviet-caliber ammunition today makes them interesting for Ukraine, concludes the publication and recalls the assumptions that Russia may be behind the attacks and fires at military production facilities in Bulgaria in recent years.

“Since in the new cabinet in Sofia there is a unanimous will to support Ukraine and this aid will no longer need to be hidden, there should be no obstacles to the systematic expansion of Bulgarian arms supplies, which until now have been paid for by the USA, Great Britain and other countries. Already in 2022, several Bulgarian arms factories had increased their production and were massively recruiting new personnel,” notes the FAC.

Radev preferred another option

As for the role of the president, author Michael Martens points out that Radev reluctantly accepted the formation of the new government because he preferred to prevent it and continue to lead Bulgaria through caretaker governments of his own choosing, similar to an unofficial presidential republic. “But now that will be impossible for him. The only question is how long the coalition will last,” FAC commented.