"Ukraine insists on waging this war. But it should also be clear that the whole of Europe is paying the bill. And this war has many dimensions.

I say again, it is not only purely military - it has an economic, social and political dimension. It is a threat and a risk to all of Europe."

This is what President Rumen Radev commented on Friday when asked about the NATO Summit in Vilnius. According to the head of state, it is high time to start thinking soberly and objectively about the war in Ukraine.

"In critical times, the Bulgarian rulers do not have their own thinking, opinion and position", he also said.

"Our rulers are frantically trying to convince us that by sending military aid, they are increasing our security. On the contrary - this conflict is definitely deepening - categorically!

The number of victims is increasing. The more weapons it absorbs, the more dead people and destruction there are," added Radev.

There were repeated phrases about how the president was proven right when he claimed that Ukraine could not be accepted into NATO while there was a war there. This was confirmed in Vilnius, and "last year they lashed out with criticism", noted Radev with an affected tone, with which he makes his comments lately.

The president did not miss the topic of the arms aid to Ukraine and the decision of the parliament to free the military warehouses of ammunition and other weapons, whose term expires.

"Should we wait, apart from the defense minister of Great Britain, who said that they cannot be a military warehouse for Ukraine, wait for other defense ministers, for our rulers to stop looking at our armed forces as a warehouse for another army?!

Our rulers are frantically trying to convince us that by sending military aid, they are helping to upgrade our armaments. This conflict is deepening," Radev added.

Nikolay Denkov replied to Radev: I am defending the national interest, the rest are baseless speculations

Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov responded to President Rumen Radev's criticism by pointing out that he was protecting the national interest and any other speculations were groundless.

He once again clarified his position on cluster bombs, pointing out that his words to Sky News had been taken out of context.

"Bulgaria, like over 100 other countries, has signed the agreement that bans cluster munitions. We have destroyed these munitions, they cannot pass through our country, but the question, if you listen to the Sky News interview, was in a completely different context: 'Would you blame Ukraine for using them when Russia is already using them?

Yes, we respect the agreement, we will not use them and we do not support their use, but there is no way to judge Ukraine for that, when such munitions are used against it and it has decided to use them. That was the context, of course, the sentence was taken out of that and was used in another way," Denkov pointed out.

The Prime Minister confirmed that the government is preparing to send the old APCs to the Ministry of the Interior of Ukraine.

"These machines are not from the contingent of the Bulgarian army, they were purchased in the 80s and are in the warehouses of the Ministry of the Interior. They have never been used, not even for exercises with them, they are just sitting in the warehouses and from this point of view they are a burden on the Ministry of the Interior. We asked Zelensky if they would be useful to them, he answered yes, and we are preparing to send them," said Denkov.

The Prime Minister is in Romania, where he met with his colleague Marcel Kolaja. The two discussed the efforts of the two countries to join Schengen and deepen cooperation. For example, in the field of transport, where a project for a second Ruse-Giurgiu bridge is being developed.

"For years we have been discussing a second bridge near Ruse-Giurgiu, as it is an important route that directly connects Bulgaria with Bucharest. It has gained new importance with the war in Ukraine, as it is part of the logistics route for preparing for the defense of NATO's Eastern flank and therefore, we have every reason to together speed up the process of planning, designing and preparing this bridge in the shortest possible time. That is why we discussed possible sources of funding to make it happen faster. At the same time, this task requires time. We put this issue forward in connection with the ferry Ruse - Giurgiu which will also be launched quickly, in order to support this intense traffic," commented Denkov.

Follow Novinite.com on Twitter and Facebook

Write to us at editors@novinite.com

Информирайте се на Български - Novinite.bg

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!