Bulgaria’s informal ruling coalition group has slammed President Rumen Radev’s veto of an agreement between Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry and Ukraine’s Defense Ministry on Bulgaria supplying old armored personnel carriers (APCs) to Ukraine, ratified by the parliament last month.
Bulgaria’s Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and the Speaker of the National Assembly predicted that lawmakers will overturn the veto.
Radev vetoed the country’s plans to send 100 surplus armored personnel carriers (APCs) to Ukraine, sending the arrangement back to parliament for reconsideration.
In explaining the veto, signed off on by parliament last month, Radev said on December 4 that lawmakers needed to assess if the vehicles – last deployed in the 1980s – were expendable and not of possible use to Bulgaria in case of emergencies.
Under an agreement signed with Kyiv in August, the APCs were to be provided free of charge. The deal will now go back to parliament for a second vote.
Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov said: “This veto will be overcome, so I don’t see anything to comment on”.
National Assembly Speaker Rosen Zhelyazkov, said that Radev’s veto was not a surprise, and would be struck down by Parliament.
Former Prime Minister Boiko Borissov’s GERB said: “Democracy and freedom cannot be defended and protected with political hypocrisy and with different positions for external and internal use,” a reference to differing statements made by Radev for domestic and foreign consumption.
“As a member of NATO and the EU, Bulgaria follows the position of the democratic world. And the majority in Parliament has a clear and consistent European NATO policy in support of Ukraine’s right to defend its citizens and territories,” GERB said.
Ivailo Mirchev, a lawmaker for We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria, accused Radev of political hypocrisy, saying he wanted to show loyalty to Russian ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova and to generate energy for his own political project.
In the initial vote in Parliament, GERB-UDF, WCC-DB and the MRF voted in favor of the donation, while pro-Russian party Vuzrazhdane and the BSP voted against.
