site.btaUPDATED President Firmly Opposes Sending Bulgarian Troops to Ukraine, Political Leaders Express Similar Positions

President Rumen Radev, who is Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Bulgarian Armed Forces, said he is firmly against sending Bulgarian soldiers to Ukraine. "I expect the government and the National Assembly to state clearly and unequivocally that Bulgaria will not send troops," Rumen Radev said here on Tuesday during a ceremony marking the 35th anniversary of the establishment of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria. 

Worried by the dialogue between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine, the leaders of key European countries held an extraordinary meeting in Paris to present a a united front, but meanwhile managed to reveal their disagreements over sending peacekeeping troops to Ukraine, AFP reported. 

Speaking to reporters ahead of a Joint Governance Council meeting, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said that the government will not propose to the National Assembly that Bulgarian troops be sent abroad. "We have made our position clear, we will continue to assist Ukraine as we have, but Bulgarian troops will not fight on foreign soil and will not participate in missions," he added.

Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Zafirov said he has no idea what provoked these remarks by the President, adding that there is no such hypothesis of sending peacekeepers to Ukraine has been discussed by the Government. 

No Bulgarian soldiers will go to Ukraine, GERB leader Boyko Borissov said in a video statement on his Facebook page. Borissov also said that this is a decision of GERB and the party's Parliamentary Group from June 2024 and is glad that President Rumen Radev has taken the same position.

Sending Bulgarian troops to Ukraine has never been discussed in any form, Nikolay Denkov, Co-Floor Leader of Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria, told journalists on Tuesday. 

Vazrazhdane MP Tsoncho Ganev said that his party proposes that Parliament adopt a decision to prevent the deployment of Bulgarian troops on the territory of Ukraine and calls for a hearing with Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev regarding on the questionnaire the United States has asked its European allies to complete. The questionnaire asks details on how many troops and resources they could deploy in Ukraine as part of security guarantees to help end the war.

"As the leader of the MRF party and the MRF - New Beginning Parliamentary Group, I express my full support for the position of Bulgarian President Rumen Radev that Bulgaria should not send soldiers to Ukraine in any form," Delyan Peevski, leader of the MRF party and the MRF - New Beginning Parliamentary Group, said in a statement issued by the party's press center on Tuesday. 

Democracy, Rights and Freedoms (DRF) stated a firm position that the defence of freedom and peace cannot be based on sending Bulgarian troops to Ukrainian territory. The statement was published on the parliamentary group's Facebook page on Tuesday. 

There Is Such a People (TISP) Deputy Floor Leader Stanislav Balabanov said that during the Joint Governance Council meeting, his party will propose that the National Assembly adopt a decision that says that "no Bulgarian citizen should be sent to the front lines in Ukraine". TISP’s official position on the issue remains unchanged despite the dynamic geopolitical landscape, he added.