site.btaSending Bulgarian Troops to Ukraine Has Never Been Discussed - PM Glavchev after Meeting NATO Chief Stoltenberg

Bulgaria's caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev here on Monday said that sending Bulgarian troops to Ukraine has not been discussed. He was speaking at a news briefing at the Council of Ministers after a one-to-one meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, which was later joined by caretaker Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov and the Chief of Defence, Admiral Emil Eftimov.

"Such a topic has never been discussed in a NATO format, nor was it discussed today. Bulgarian people can rest assured," Glavchev said. "This is another piece of disinformation that I have to disprove," he added, and stressed that Bulgaria is a reliable NATO ally and fulfills its obligations.

During their meeting, Glavchev and Stoltenberg discussed Bulgaria's 20-year membership in NATO and the Sofia-hosted NATO Parliamentary Assembly Spring Session, which concluded on Monday. "I thanked him for being present because it is important at a time of an overall difficult security situation, especially on NATO's Eastern flank, where we are situated. We discussed the need to restore the importance of the Western Balkans," Glavchev said, adding that "Bulgaria was a leader in this process in 2017".

The two discussed issues in the Black Sea region and aid to Ukraine. "We are both of the opinion that aid to Ukraine has no alternative," the caretaker Prime Minister noted. He quoted Stoltenberg as saying during their discussions that "we must help Ukraine with all our strength and all our means, but keeping in mind that NATO should not be dragged into the conflict."

Asked whether Bulgaria is ready to take action to step up aid to Ukraine and whether this has been requested from the country, Glavchev said, "At the end of our conversation, it became clear that Stoltenberg meant that the Alliance as a whole should increase its aid to Ukraine. We, in turn, presented data and a summary of what we have done". "I believe that the NATO Secretary General was satisfied with what we have done so far and even stressed that we are a good example within the Alliance. We have not been asked specifically to increase military assistance. We have said before that we are doing everything possible to assist Ukraine. Anything other than that requires a decision of the National Assembly."

Answering a reporter’s question about a possible deployment of anti-aircraft missile defense systems on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, Glavchev said the topic had not been discussed.

Earlier on Monday, Glavchev also participated in the Spring Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, which took place at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia between May 25 and 27.