Diary: in the Bulgarian parliament, they spoke in favor of providing weapons and spare parts to UkraineThe epic with military aid to Ukraine has been dragging on for a long time, writes the "Diary".
Officially, Bulgaria does not supply weapons there, but only helps with the repair of equipment. Now the parliament will have to vote on helping Kiev with weapons and spare parts. The deputies note that Bulgaria is at great risk.
Zlatina ZekhirovaDeputies from the GERB, We Continue Changes, DPS and Democratic Bulgaria parties, parliamentary Defense and Foreign policy committees approved Bulgaria's provision of military and military-technical assistance to Ukraine, including the supply of weapons and spare parts.
It is noted that Bulgaria's assistance should correspond to the country's capabilities. The decision is not final and will be put to the vote on November 3 in the plenary hall of the Parliament. GERB and Democratic Bulgaria have combined their ideas in a single solution:
· Within a month, the government must provide the Parliament with information on what military equipment can be transferred;
· The Council of Ministers should discuss with NATO and the European Union what can replace the old Soviet equipment provided by Bulgaria;
· The government should support Ukraine's claim against Russia for human rights violations.
The epic of Bulgaria's military aid to Ukraine stretches back to the time of the previous parliament, when, for the sake of the BSP, the then ruling coalition between "We continue Changes", BSP, "There are such people" and "Democratic Bulgaria" decided to reduce military aid to repair. But later everyone realized that weapons from Bulgaria get to Ukraine, but not directly, but through Poland.
As expected, even now the positions of political forces regarding military assistance are divided. GERB, "We continue the changes", DPS and "Democratic Bulgaria" advocate that the support of Ukraine will not only protect democratic values, but will also allow the modernization of the Bulgarian army by replacing defensive equipment. On the other hand, the Vozrozhdenie and BSP parties repeat that there was no analysis of the consequences of providing military equipment, and the commission's decision was hasty and looks like a "political action". Deputies of the Bulgarian Sunrise party (the center–left party of former Bulgarian Defense Minister Stefan Yanev, founded in May 2022 - Approx. trans.) voted "against" military assistance, but did not join the discussion.
During the discussion, it became clear that the Minister of Defense of the interim government, Dimitar Stoyanov, opposes the new decision on military assistance to Ukraine.
"We are late" and "Modernization is needed"
Daniel Mitov (GERB) said that the decision on military assistance to Ukraine was too late and should have been taken by the last parliament. According to him, "The Russian Federation has declared war on civilization." "I don't understand the desire of some people to return to the caves. This does not correspond to the interests of Bulgaria," he said. "Better late than never" - picked up Ceyhan Ibryamov (DPS).
In response to the reasoning that, having decided to provide military assistance, Bulgaria takes someone's side in the conflict, although it should remain neutral, because peace is the highest value, Hristo Gadzhev (COAT of ARMS) retorted: "If you see a person on the street beating another person, what will you do? If you don't intervene, who are you helping—the victim or the abuser?"
Daniel Lorer ("We continue the changes") stated that the decision on military assistance pursues two important goals – to show solidarity with Ukraine and take care of the future of the Bulgarian armed forces: "It is important that the current conflict encourages the country to modernize its defense."
Atanas Slavov ("Democratic Bulgaria") spoke in the same spirit: "Speaking about Ukraine, we are talking about how Bulgaria meets its security needs." The draft decision provides for a gradual increase in defense spending to 2% of GDP.
Accusations of "political actions" and "collective irresponsibility"
Already at the beginning of the joint meeting of the Defense and foreign policy committees, Vozrozhdenie and BSP tried to postpone it, citing the lack of a detailed analysis of Bulgaria's defense capability, on the basis of which a decision on military assistance to Ukraine could be made. They also noted that the meeting was not attended by the heads of all law enforcement agencies.
Chairman of the Defense Committee Hristo Gadzhev from GERB replied that the presence of Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov, as well as Defense Chief Emil Eftimov, was enough.
Former Foreign Minister and now BSP MP Christian Vigenin said that at the current stage of hostilities it is not known whether Bulgaria's assistance can affect the outcome of the conflict. "In practice, we don't know if our discussion today makes sense." Deputy Atanas Zafirov noted that the decision "will be only in words," because "85% of the Bulgarian army's weapons are Soviet and Russian," and it will not be possible to replace it quickly.
According to Christian Vigenin, the decision taken by the majority is a "hasty political action." He saw the possibility of an "institutional split", since President Rumen Radev also opposes the provision of military assistance to Ukraine. Given that new elections are possible at the beginning of next year, Vigenin describes the current situation as follows: "The Parliament will oblige the interim government appointed by the president, who is against it. This is collective irresponsibility."
The Minister of Defense of the interim government, Dimitar Stoyanov, once again reminded that before giving weapons to Ukraine, it is necessary to analyze their capabilities. According to him, it is enough that the country is doing now – it provides first-aid kits for servicing the wounded and transfers winter clothes and shoes free of charge. It is not so easy to ensure the replacement of defense equipment according to the mechanisms of NATO and the European Union, since Bulgaria cannot demand specific deadlines, and there are no guarantees that the country will not have to pay extra.
