The surprising decision of Bulgaria was made by President Rumen Radev on Monday. He vetoed the delivery of 100 decommissioned transport vehicles from the Bulgarian army to Ukraine.
This veto occurred despite the Sofia Parliament having approved the relevant agreement just a few weeks earlier, as reported by the US magazine Newsweek. According to the Bulgarian broadcaster NOVA, Radev has referred the agreement back to Parliament for further discussion through his veto. He stated that the deputies who had signed the agreement were not sufficiently “familiar” with the matter.
The Bulgarian National Assembly had ratified the agreement between their country’s Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine on November 22. Bulgaria is among the NATO members that have strongly supported Ukraine’s efforts in combating the Russian invasion, as reported by the German news website Münchner Merkur. However, due to increasing tensions between Russia and the members of the military alliance, some European countries have decided to take measures to secure their own borders. There seems to be a concern about an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine. In such a case, Bulgaria, due to its proximity to Ukraine, would be on the front line.
Image: President.gov.ua, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy makes a speech in the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea.jpg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (Image size changed)
