site.btaUPDATED Defence Ministry Has Implemented 10 Military Assistance Packages to Ukraine

Within the framework of international efforts aimed at restoring the security system, including in the context of NATO and the EU, the Ministry of Defence has implemented ten military assistance packages for Ukraine aligned with the needs and priorities expressed by the Ukrainian side, as well with the decisions of Bulgaria's Parliament, Deputy Defence Minister Radostin Iliev said here on Monday at the opening of a discussion marking the third year of the Ukraine war.

The forum is organized by the Association of the Officers in the Reserve Atlantic, the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria, the Atlantic Council of Bulgaria and the Sofia Security Forum, with the support of the Embassy of Ukraine in Bulgaria and the Defence Ministry.

The reality is that the war against Ukraine has been going on for more than three years. Russian aggression and objectives have not changed. The desire to return to Cold War spheres of influence remains the same. In effect, the Black Sea region is part of the war zone and we are forced to live and work in such an environment, Radostin Iliev said.

There is nothing more important than for Ukraine to get rid of the aggressor in order to be able to move forward in its integration in Europe, said Velizar Shalamanov of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria. “We need to stop asking what the US and Western Europe will do. The main question in Bulgaria is what we will do, when we will have a Security Agreement with Ukraine. We need a much more serious effort to counter Russia's information and destabilization operations. This is the number one issue for the government, “Shalamanov said.

The United States is not represented by just one person, it is a republic where institutions work together and they will work together to achieve a truly just peace, said Momchil Doychev, co-chair of the Atlantic Council of Bulgaria. “Ukraine and the Ukrainian people have shown us how to defend freedom and independence by force. Ukraine with its army is the prototype of the future European army because the Ukrainian army is the strongest army in Europe with the richest military experience,” Doychev further said.

Europe's security is Ukraine's security and Ukraine's security is Europe's security, Ukrainian Ambassador to Sofia Olesya Ilashchuk said.

She stressed that Ukrainians defend their independence and international law. “Our common goal is to establish a lasting and just peace, together we will overcome all difficulties,” the Ambassador added.

Ilashchuk thanked the government of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian people for the political and humanitarian assistance provided. “We are grateful to every institution and person who support Ukraine in its struggle for independence,” she stressed.

“For 11 years we have been fighting a war with a country that outnumbers us in numbers and resources, for three years Ukraine has withstood a full-scale invasion by one of the most capable armies in the world, the diplomat stressed. Ukraine did the impossible, it made history thanks to its resistance against the Russian occupation,” Olesya Ilashchuk also said.  “They will never be able to break us,” she said.