Bulgaria Prepares New Military Aid Package for Ukraine
Bulgaria's Defence Minister Todor Tagarev announced that the country is preparing a new package of military aid for Ukraine, which is resisting a full-scale Russian aggression, reports BGNES.
According to Bulgaria's Defence Minister, the new military aid package for Ukraine will match Kiev's needs and Sofia's capabilities, in line with last year's parliamentary decision.
"The assistance will be provided on the same scale as last time. We take from our storages that which is in operational condition and has a longer lifespan, say, 30-40 years or more, and there are always questions about the cost, about what exactly we mean and how this cost is calculated," explained Tagarev.
The Minister also disagreed with Bulgaria's President Rumen Radev, who called Bulgaria's upcoming accession to the EU initiative to provide Ukraine with a million artillery shells a mistake.
"It's about investment, European investment, in expanding the capacities and modernising our defence industry while we haven't lost the opportunity because Commissioner Thierry Breton first came to Bulgaria, but then he went to other countries, and we said we didn't need it," added Bulgaria's Defence Minister Todor Tagarev.
Recall that in November of the previous year, the Bulgarian Parliament supported a resolution on supplying Ukraine with military and technical assistance. Unofficially, the former pro-European government of Kiril Petkov is alleged to have provided Kiev with ammunition and weapons worth over a billion dollars.
Earlier, the new pro-European government of Bulgaria confirmed that it supports military aid to Ukraine.
The Defence Minister separately mentioned the security in the Black Sea region and Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.
"We will have security when the last occupant leaves Ukraine's border, and the aggressive intentions of the Kremlin are blocked. Only then can we guarantee our region and our future," Tagarev pointed out.
"Bulgaria should do everything necessary to both strengthen our defences and to assist Ukraine so that it can continue the counteroffensive it has evidently begun and free its territories," the Minister added.
The country's government is acting within the decisions of the European Union and the decisions of the National Assembly.
Bulgaria was one of two EU countries, besides neutral Ireland, which did not join the collective procurement of ammunition for Ukraine through the European Defence Agency. Still, the country's Defence Minister assured that this decision would be reconsidered.