President Rumen Radev remarked that the ongoing war increases the threat to peace, security and stability in Bulgaria and the entire Europe.
He stated that the conflict has tested European countries’ social and economic systems for over a year and forced the search for new safe routes for energy and other resources to cope with the crisis. The key is also what Europe will look like after the end of military action, including the new security architecture that will impact the future of Bulgaria.
The Russo-Ukraine conflict is about to remark its first anniversary on February 24. Through his social media account, President Radev noted that the world needs a comprehensive strategy to stop Russia’s war against Ukraine and win peace afterwards.
He stressed that Member of Five of the North Atlantic Treaty guarantees the security of NATO member states. Still, the deteriorating security environment also requires real action to strengthen the national defence capacity of individual countries to contribute to overall safety.
Bulgaria has extended its support to Ukraine within its capabilities and will continue to support international efforts in seeking a sustainable solution to end the war in Ukraine. President Radev outlined that providing weapons to Ukraine would not end the conflict.
The Bulgarian President had faced criticism from Parliament and other states for not supporting Ukraine by providing weapons to Ukraine. According to Bulgarian parliament members, Bulgaria is giving up a golden opportunity to replace old Soviet-made weapons with western high-tech weapons by not giving them to Ukraine.
Radev underlined that it is unacceptable. In this extremely complex security environment, some small part of political parties sees the Bulgarian Armed Forces not as a guarantor of Bulgaria’s territorial integrity and security but as a donor to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The only thing they care about regarding the Bulgarian army is how it immediately gives up its weapons.
He said, “Unlike these people, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, I am obliged to insist that the defensive potential of the Bulgarian army is not weakened in this complex environment, but to preserve and develop”.