Bulgaria’s PM is sceptical about providing military aid to Ukraine. Bulgaria is NATO ally, however, is concerned by the backlash of arming a neighbour, during a time when public opinion is divided against the war in Ukraine.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin is on a two-day visit to Bulgaria for talks, in Sofia, with Bulgarian PM Kiril Petkov and Defence Minister Dragomir Zakov.
They will discuss US-Bulgarian defence cooperation and NATO’s plans to boost its eastern flank amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Providing military aid to Ukraine is not an option
However, despite the persuasion Prime Minister Petkov has ruled out providing military aid to Ukraine but said his country, a NATO ally, will continue to provide humanitarian assistance.
“Bulgaria will continue to do everything possible to aid the Ukrainians in this hard war and this huge aggression that the Russian Federation has been inflicting on them,” he told reporters.
“But being so close to the conflict, right now, military aid for Ukraine won’t be possible.”
Protests in Bulgaria
Geo-politically, Bulgaria, a Balkan nation that has a reasonable relationship with Russia, is strategically placed with a coastline on the black sea and a border with Turkey and fears Ukraine could be a threat in the future.
Protests in Bulgaria erupted this week, largely hailing the Russian flag. Who they see as allies who freed them from Turkish Ottoman rule in 1877-78, after 5 centuries of Ottoman rule.
Protesters rallied in a park near Bulgaria’s Defence Ministry while the talks were taking place. The Bulgarian people are cautious of all the American involvement and don’t trust the American politicians.
‘Say No! to America’
Surrounded by police, the EU Nationals chanted ‘say no! to America’ and held up banners, waving Bulgarian and Russian flags.
last week Petkov told Politico that Bulgaria is “too close to the conflict” to send weapons directly from Sofia to Ukraine on a bilateral basis.
He also said that Sofia would find it difficult to join in on any prospective bans on Russian energy imports.
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Ukraine: @muslimhands dispatched an emergency response team as soon the crisis broke out | In conversation with @yvonneridley
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