site.btaPresident Radev Refutes Claims that He Is Sabotaging Modernization of Bulgarian Army

All insinuations that the President is sabotaging the modernization of the Bulgarian army are highly incorrect, to say the least. This is what head of State Rumen Radev said on Monday after his meeting with President of Montenegro Jakov Milatovic, who is on a two-day visit to Bulgaria. President Radev made this comment after a journalist's question about how the geopolitical dynamics affect relations within NATO.

"NATO is strong in its will to adhere to and enforce democratic principles, as well as in its will to cooperate effectively with all its members when we talk about peace and security. The big challenge NATO is currently facing is to achieve capability and stability on the European continent, to have sufficient military capabilities, to have defence and deterrence capabilities," Radev said.

"I will take this opportunity to dismiss … the speculation that I am against building reliable defence capabilities in Europe and against the rearmament of the Bulgarian army and the development of our defence industry. There is no politician in Bulgaria who has worked harder than me and insisted that we should have modernization in the Bulgarian army, that we should have motivated personnel, that we should have higher spending on defence, that we should have strong European capabilities, overcoming the fragmentation of the European defence industry," the President further said. 

The President also commented on the war in Ukraine.

"Europe cannot impose peace from a position of strength. It is immoral for Europe to keep pushing Ukraine to keep fighting in order to come, through war, to some position from which to impose peace, a position of strength. Absolutely impossible. This is a crude and brutal clash with reality. This policy is leading Ukraine to disaster and Europe to a dead end. With such a policy, casualties will only grow, will see even more destruction, devastation, and even greater loss of territory," he said. 

According to him, Europe should work in cooperation with the United States to be able to achieve a ceasefire, then use the tools of diplomacy, all possible mechanisms, to seek a solution that will ensure a just and sustainable peace. 

"It is a fallacy of both Bulgarian society and the Bulgarian defence industry that there will be EUR 800 billion of free financial resources to be poured in as investments. We all want it to be there, but it is not. There will be EUR 150 billion in loans with the help of the European Investment Bank," Radev also said.