site.btaBulgarian Government Will Not Propose Sending Bulgarian Troops Abroad - PM Zhelyazkov

The government will not propose to the National Assembly that Bulgarian troops be sent abroad, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov told reporters here on Tuesday ahead of a meeting of the Joint Governance Council.

"This is within the powers of the National Assembly," Zhelyazkov said, adding that this is also enshrined in this country's Constitution. 

"Even though Parliament holds this power, the Bulgarian government will not propose such a decision," Zhelyazkov said.

"The search for a security architecture in the war in Ukraine must be a pan-European mission. 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,” Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said.

Earlier on Tuesday, President Rumen Radev, who is Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Bulgarian Armed Forces, said that he was 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," he said.

Worried by the Ukraine war talks between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, European leaders held an emergency meeting on Monday in Paris to present a united front. However, they remained divided on whether peacekeepers should be deployed to Ukraine to support any peace agreement.