site.btaForeign Minister Zaharieva Expresses Support for Czechia's and Ukraine's Sovereignty

Sofia, April 19 (BTA) - At an online meeting of the EU Foreign
Affairs Council on Monday, outgoing Bulgarian Foreign Minister
Ekaterina Zaharieva expressed full solidarity with Czechia over
the violation of its national sovereignty by Russia and
reaffirmed Bulgaria's full support for Ukraine amid mounting
tensions as Russian forces amass in the east of the country, the
 Bulgarian Foreign Ministry reported.

"The violation of Czechia's sovereignty by Russia is totally
unacceptable. This is not the first time that this happens,"
Zaharieva said.

Early in the meeting, Jan Hamacek, Czechia's Deputy Prime
Minister, Minister of Interior and acting Minister of Foreign
Affairs, briefed the other EU foreign ministers on the expulsion
 of 18 officers of the Russian Embassy in Prague and the
disclosures by the Czech special services about two Russian
military intelligence officers directly linked to a Czech
ammunition depot explosion in 2014.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting focused on the situation
around Ukraine. The country's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba
joined the discussion.

Zaharieva said: "I want to express our full solidarity with
Ukraine over Russia's dangerous military buildup at the
Ukrainian border in the last few weeks. These actions are
absolutely unacceptable. We should keep showing solidarity with
Ukraine and insist that Russia honour all its international
commitments." She praised Ukraine for the restraint it has shown
 in an extremely disturbing situation.

"It is very important to Bulgaria to see tensions ease and to
hear a confirmation of the commitments to the truce of July 2020
 and a peaceful solution to the conflict in Eastern Ukraine. The
 Minsk agreements should be implemented in full, because this is
 the only way to solve the conflict," Zaharieva said.

Kuleba repeated the invitation for the EU countries to
participate at the highest level in the inaugural meeting of the
 International Crimea Platform which will be held in Kiev on
August 23. Zaharieva confirmed Bulgaria's support for the
platform. NV/VE