site.btaUPDATED Parliament Adopts Declaration on Non-participation of Bulgarian Armed Forces in Hostilities in Ukraine's Territory

MPs adopted a declaration here on Friday, expressing the position of the 51st National Assembly on the non-participation of the Bulgarian Armed Forces in military actions on the territory of Ukraine. A total of 166 MPs voted in favour, 27 were against and 11 abstained.

The declaration was supported by GERB - UDF,  Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB), MRF- New Beginning, BSP - United Left, Democracy, Rights and Freedoms - DRF and There Is Such a People. Vazrazhdane voted against, while MECh and one CC-DB MP abstained.

The declaration calls for a lasting and just peace in Ukraine and a negotiation process that involves all countries directly affected and interested in establishing and preserving security and stability in Europe, including Bulgaria. 

Parliament also calls on the Council of Ministers to continue the policy of the Republic of Bulgaria for peaceful settlement of international conflicts through diplomatic means and to promote initiatives aimed at de-escalating conflicts and finding sustainable peaceful solutions.

Vazrazhdane proposed a number of corrections and deletions from the declaration, which, however, was not met with support in the plenary, except for Vazrazhdane's and MECh's. Among Vazrazhdane's proposals was to remove from the declaration's preamble that Bulgaria's NATO and EU membership is a main guarantee for this country's national security. 

Also rejected was CC-DB's proposal the declaration's preamble for Parliament to reaffirm its 2022 position that it "condemns Russia's ongoing, unprovoked and unjustified full-scale war and crimes against Ukraine and its people." 

If these amendments are not adopted, we will vote against this declaration because it leaves the possibility for sending Bulgarian servicemen to the territory of Ukraine, said Vazrazhdane MP Angel Georgiev. "At the moment, you are lying to the people that you will not send Bulgarian servicemen to Ukraine, but you are leaving a number of hypothetical situations under which to do so," he added. 

Georgiev commented that the declaration has no legally binding force, while the draft decision tabled by his party obliges the Council of Ministers not to allow sending Bulgarian servicemen.

Radostin Vassilev from MECh also called on the government to correct the text, saying that otherwise his group will abstain from supporting the declaration, although they are against sending Bulgarian troops to Ukraine. The only option, since there is no official request, is for Parliament to guarantee by a declaration that no Bulgarian troops will be sent to Ukraine, explained Stanislav Balabanov from TISP. 

He urged Vazrazhdane to stop scaring the Bulgarian public. Nothing and no one can be sent anywhere without Parliament's sanction, Balabanov said.

"From the very beginning we have stated that this conflict cannot be resolved in any other way than by peaceful means, by negotiations," said Socialist MP Andrey Valchev, recalling that there are casualties on both sides. He said his party will not allow Bulgarian soldiers' lives to be lost because they went to Ukraine. 

Toma Bikov of GERB-UDF pointed out that the purpose of this declaration is to reassure Bulgarian citizens that this country will not send troops to Ukraine. "We stand in the middle between two parliamentary groups - one pretends to be Trump, the other pretends to be Biden and we are watching a spectacle," he said. 

"The majority in the plenary hall, except for CC-DB, rejected our proposal to include a text in the declaration, which says that Russia is an aggressor in Ukraine," said CC-DB MP Bozhidar Bozhanov. 

GERB leader Boyko Borissov did not give a single vote for declaring Russia the aggressor, but then came out to the media to say that Russia is the aggressor after all, Bozhanov said.

If Borissov had been in Parliament, he would have at least given his vote, if not that of his entire parliamentary group, Bozhanov said. According to CC-DB Deputy Co-Floor Leader Nadezhda Yordanova, Bulgaria's national interest is to be in a strong Europe and therefore this country should have an active position.

"We oppose all the attempts we see at the moment, including Borissov's, the government's, attempts at appeasement. In this situation this is the most dangerous behaviour, contrary to the Bulgarian national interest, because it would put Bulgaria in the "grey zone"," Yordanova pointed out. In her words, Bulgaria cannot be in the lagging part of the EU, cannot fall out of the European union. "That is why we need a proactive stance that defends the national interest and seeks a common European solution," the MEP stressed.