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DB Co-Chair Atanas Atanasov has announced that consultations are under way with a request for parliament to mandate the government to send military-technical assistance to Ukraine. PHOTO: Nikolai Litov
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DB begins consultations – the parliament to give a mandate to the cabinet
BSP strongly opposes
GERB overtook the right and submitted a draft decision with such a request
A new friendly fire in the ruling coalition erupted in parliament over whether Bulgaria, like everyone else in the EU except Hungary, should send military-technical assistance to Ukraine.
The territory has been a minefield for the quadruple coalition for days, and so far it has been treading it carefully. Because it is clear that the BSP is adamantly against it.
On Wednesday, Father Democratic Bulgaria announced loudly – with a declaration in the plenary hall, intending to begin consultations with parliamentary forces to give the government a mandate to provide Kyiv with weapons in addition to humanitarian aid.
From the red ranks they answered even with
threats to leave the coalition
Helping the attacked is not interfering in the war, but supporting peace, and it is our moral duty to respect the just cause of Ukraine, insisted the co-chairman of the DB Atanas Atanasov. Bulgaria’s national interest is defined by our membership in NATO and the EU, and other members have provided military assistance, the general explained.
The DB’s position comes after six former military ministers signed a joint declaration earlier this week calling on parliament to give a mandate to the Council of Ministers to provide weapons to Ukraine. Boyko Noev, Velizar Shalamanov, Todor Tagarev, Anyu Angelov, Nikolay Svinarov and Nikolay Nenchev asked the parties to start consultations.
The long-stated position of GERB in support of such a decision makes any new movement even more unpleasant for the relations in the coalition.
The BSP is strongly opposed to sending military aid to Ukraine, cut off immediately the head of the parliamentary group Georgi Svilenski yesterday.
Such is the decision of the National Assembly when adopting the budget – to provide only humanitarian aid. This decision has not been revoked. It is being respected and must continue to be respected, he explained.
Svilenski repeated the thesis that
the sending of weapons will involve Bulgaria directly in the war
In fact, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov used similar words after his participation in the last European Council in Brussels. He cites an unannounced opinion poll that more than 80% of Bulgarians thought so.
That is why it seems that the shooting of DB seems to be more of a blank cartridge and has purely image goals.
Core supporters of the right-wing coalition are adamant about any support for Kyiv, and its leaders cannot ignore this.
Acquaintances say that the topic was discussed at a closed meeting of the Cabinet last week. There, BSP representatives reminded that this is one of the red lines for them and they will definitely not support sending weapons to Ukraine. If such a decision is made, we are inclined to want to leave the coalition, left-wing MPs added yesterday. The Socialist unofficially explained why:
If we make such a decision, this
means to deliver your electorate and to give it to “Revival”
Meanwhile, Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov has since convened a protest on April 6th against Bulgaria’s “involvement” in the war.
Our former representative in NATO and current Minister of War Dragomir Zakov made it clear that he personally seems to be a supporter of military assistance. But he was adamant – the Bulgarian Armed Forces are experiencing a shortage of items and can not afford to lose equipment. It is very likely that his words from Tuesday will come because of the need to publicly argue the agreement in power.
I am not ashamed of the help we provide to Ukraine. Sometimes timely and accurate information can be much more valuable than two aircraft weapons, Zakov added.
In the middle between the DB and the BSP, the mandate holder “We continue the change” came out in a moderate tone. We expect to hear the proposal of the DB with more specifics – what kind of help we want to provide. We are ready to listen to them, but we are also realistic. You have heard that the Ministry of Defense has stated that at the moment we cannot provide strategic military equipment, such as missiles, but we are ready to listen to the proposals, sit down and speak them in the coalition, said Nastimir Ananiev.
Against this background, GERB submitted a draft resolution for the National Assembly to give a mandate to the government to provide military assistance to Ukraine, without affecting major defense platforms.
Helping the victim does not mean getting involved in the conflict or its escalation, announced former Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov.
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