Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev has said his country is not in a position to take part in providing additional funding for Ukraine totalling €70bn.
According to him, the request was voiced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting of the European Council, BTA reports.
Radev recalled the EU’s earlier decision to grant Ukraine a €90bn loan backed by EU guarantees, and stressed Sofia’s categorical refusal to take part in the new financial initiative.
Commenting on the broader situation in Europe, the official said the war in Ukraine is draining European economies and fuelling social and political instability. In his view, EU citizens’ prosperity is declining because of the protracted war, instead of resources being directed towards addressing domestic problems in European countries.
In this context, Radev called for the war to be brought to an end as soon as possible through diplomacy.
- At the European Council meeting, the Ukrainian president said the war would cost €155bn next year and that Ukraine would need €70bn from its partners.
- Bulgaria has previously stated it would not provide various types of assistance to Ukraine. The country withdrew from the “coalition of the willing” and also distanced itself from the anti-ballistic coalition.
- This summer, Bulgaria refused to provide military assistance to Ukraine, despite being Europe’s leading producer of Soviet-standard ammunition.
- In August, the Centre for Countering Disinformation reported that the spread of pro-Russian narratives aimed at discrediting Ukraine and undermining support for the country had been recorded in Bulgaria’s information space.
- In particular, claims were promoted that missile strikes on industrial and logistics hubs “call into question the entire economic model of attracting foreign investment into Ukraine” and “block the export corridors of Western holdings”.
- The outlets that systematically publish these statements belong to media classified as the main hubs of pro-Kremlin influence in Bulgaria. More than 70% of their content consists of direct reprints, translations and adaptations of material from sanctioned Russian state media.
- When the EU was adopting the 21st package of sanctions against Russia, Bulgaria demanded, in exchange for its support, the removal from the list of Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, Lukoil founder Vagit Alekperov, as well as the head of the company supplying components for the Sofia metro.