site.btaDelyan Peevski Urges Government to Mandate MEP Elena Yoncheva to Negotiate for Release of Bulgarian Sailors in Yemen

Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning leader Delyan Peevski on Monday urged the government and all competent institutions, including the National Assembly, to work together for mandating MEP Elena Yoncheva to negotiate for the release of the Bulgarian sailors from the cargo ship Galaxy Leader hijacked by Houthi rebels in Yemen on November 19, 2023.

In a statement released by the party, Peevski noted that the ship’s captain Lyubomir Chanev and first mate Danail Veselinov, both of them Bulgarian, have been held in captivity for almost a year. “It ought to be a duty of every statesperson to do everything necessary to help Bulgarian nationals in distress abroad,” he argued.

Meeting with the Bulgarian hostages in Yemen in September 2024, Yoncheva “proved that it is possible to find a path of negotiations for their release,” Peevski said. According to him, Yoncheva should receive every logistical support from the Bulgarian authorities to bring the sailors back home.

Peevski said: “It is about time that the political leaders begin to find the causes that unite them for the sake of the Bulgarian citizens and the Bulgarian state, rather than holding the whole nation hostage to intrigue, conflicts and their own interests and those of their parties while turning their back on the people.”

In September, Yoncheva said she had managed to meet with the two Bulgarians in Yemen. The meeting took place off the Galaxy Leader, in a room chosen by the Houthis for security reasons.