“At this stage, Bulgaria will not take part in the EU’s initiative for the immediate transfer of 155 mm caliber ammunition, as it does not have such guns, but we do not exclude the possibility that the European Defense Agency may entrust the production of such ammunition to Bulgarian companies“. This was announced by the Minister of DefenseTodor Tagarev during a hearing in the plenary hall.
However, Bulgaria will take advantage of the opportunity to increase the capacity of its arms industry. Meetings with Bulgarian companies have already been held to assess their production capabilities:
“Our joining the project will create a favorable basis for access to the financial incentives for manufacturers from the Member States, which are foreseen in the currently discussed draft regulation establishing an act to strengthen the production of ammunition. The budget is 500 million euros until the middle of 2025. These funds could be used for modernization, optimization and creation of new production facilities for the enterprises of our defense industry. Bulgaria will join the project for joint procurement of ammunition after the completion of the process of national coordination, adoption of the decision of the Council of Ministers and the signing of the relevant project agreement. The package of documents for the Council of Ministers is currently being prepared“.
Regarding the possibility of sending Bulgarian combat medics to Ukraine, Minister Tagarevannounced:
“In connection with this decision, it is planned, after coordination with the Ukrainian side, to conduct training on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria with one module for the training of combat medics – up to 15 people from the armed forces of Ukraine per month, lasting 10 working days, and up to 4 modules within one calendar year, or a total of 60 persons. The training is planned to take place at the Military Medical Simulation Training Center of the Military Medical Academy. The center at the MMA has already been built with the support of the United States of America with state-of-the-art technology. At the moment, an initial proposal has been made to the representative of Ukraine at the headquarters of the European Union Assistance Mission to Ukraine in Brussels to conduct training in the fall of this year.”
The hearing is at the request of the parliamentary group of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).
Bulgaria supports the use of frozen money from Russian banks to rebuild Ukraine
“Bulgaria believes that legal means should be sought to use frozen money from Russian banks to restore Ukraine“, Prime Minister Mykola Denkov told journalists in Brussels before the summit of European Union leaders.
Denkov was asked if Bulgaria is inclined to support a proposal to use the frozen money from Russian banks to rebuild Ukraine, to which he replied that the issue was also discussed yesterday at his meeting with the heads of the European Commission and the European Council and “we think that legal means must be sought to make this happen“.
He mentioned a proposal by Finance Minister Asen Vassilev on how UN structures could be used, but without going into details.
“Yes, we think that opportunities should be looked for, because you see the war is dragging on, the casualties are increasing, the emigration from Ukraine is measured in millions and all this requires funds,” the prime minister added.
Regarding the rebellion of the founder of the private military company “Wagner”, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Denkov commented that this is an internal issue for Russia, which will have external consequences.
“What the coup attempt, or whatever that event was, showed is that this push for aggression from the outside has weakened Russia from the inside“, Denkov pointed out. He declined to assess whether this was good or bad, but stressed that instability in a nuclear state is always a cause for concern. “The best thing is for Russia stabilize, to withdraw from Ukraine, to restore peace within internationally recognized borders“, the Prime Minister also said.
According to him, the army must have a clear political message from the state leadership that what the parliament decides is what the Council of Ministers will do, where it is decided that there will be help for Ukraine, help will be given. “What is important for the army is to know clearly that we are part of the EU and NATO“, he added, noting that the task is to increase the combat capability of the army, which also means an investment program.
Source: Novinite
