Bulgaria's position on tensions between Russia and Ukraine is unequivocal, Prime Minister Kirill Petkov told the BBC in response to a question about Russian President Vladimir Putin's attempts to find weaknesses among NATO members:

“We have a strong voice in NATO and the European Union. Bulgaria is a very predictable member of NATO and I do not think that the word ‘weakness’ can be associated with us at all.”

In an interview with the BBC's HARDtalk column, the prime minister said that if Moscow responds with energy restrictions in the event of new Western sanctions, this could be a problem for Bulgaria. He added that he had discussed with the European Commission an action plan in such a situation:

“If this very bad scenario comes true, we will succeed, but we will be forced to limit electricity exports. The European single market will have to make an exception only for this period this time.”

“Bulgaria is still a net exporter of electricity and there may be interruptions for a short period. We are currently building the gas connection with Greece very quickly, from where we can have access to other sources of natural gas. This connection is of the highest priority, we expect it to happen in the next 4-5 months. We are actively trying to reduce these risks, but it is important to note that they must be taken jointly by the European Union and NATO,” said Kiril Petkov.

/BNR

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