2024-07-23 03:42:10
We are ready with new military aid for Kyiv. “We will not give cash”, but ammunition, said Zapryanov
The former Minister of Defense Nikolay Nenchev will be the temporary manager of the Bulgarian Embassy in Ukraine. This decision was taken by the government to end the more than a year long blockade between the Council of Ministers and President Rumen Radev on sending the first diplomat there.
The Bulgarian embassy in Kyiv officially left without an ambassador in April 2023. Until then, it was headed by Kostadin Kojabashev. However, he was recalled to Bulgaria in February 2022 because of the war and the temporary closure of the embassy, and he never returned to his post – he became an official deputy. foreign minister in August 2022. During that time he formally served as ambassador, and in April 2023, when his term expired, he was sent to head our mission to the Vatican.
The government of Nikolay Denkov tried to send a new ambassador. However, the appointment was stopped by President Radev, according to whom the appointment of an ambassador to Kyiv was not urgent.
In order to solve the crisis, because a number of other ambassadorial posts were also vacant (among them key ones such as Paris and London), then Foreign Minister Maria Gabriel started negotiations with the presidential team. Thus, in October 2023, Petar Tanev, who worked as an adviser in the mission, was proposed for Ukraine. The decision passed through the Council of Ministers, but
Radev never signed the decree for his appointment,
what is the procedure.
The only way to get around the president is for the cabinet to send a person to be the interim manager of the embassy. This is exactly how Nenchev will leave now. By education, he is a lawyer and a political scientist, he is the chairman of the BZNS. Nenchev was the Minister of Defense in the second Cabinet of Boyko Borisov.
In theory, however, the search for an ambassador for Kyiv will continue. Nenchev himself can be regularly appointed if Radev and the cabinet come to an agreement. But the crisis over the diplomats between the two institutions may deepen, as next month
the mandate of our ambassador in Moscow also expires
Athanas Krustin.
Before going to Russia, he was Radev’s foreign policy secretary. The choice of who will replace him will be key not only because of the war in Ukraine, but will also be indicative of the policy that our country will pursue in bilateral relations.
The Ministry of Defense is ready to provide new military aid to Ukraine and will submit it for a vote in the Council of Ministers, Defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov announced at a conference for the 75th anniversary of NATO, organized by the Atlantic Club in Sofia.
The aid consists mainly of small arms and artillery ammunition and is coordinated with Ukraine. “We will not give cash”, emphasized the minister. But we will be compensated financially by different mechanisms from the EU.
Our country has already received the alliance’s plans for defense in 2025, Zapryanov said. And he pointed out that in order to cope with NATO’s future plans, at least 2.5% of GDP will have to be invested in defense.
“We are working to modernize the Bulgarian armed forces and are progressively increasing defense spending, and this year we will reach and exceed the set minimum goal of 2% – we will achieve 2.18% of GDP,” said Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev.
The American ambassador to our country, Kenneth Merten, defined the aid that our country has sent to Ukraine so far as “generous”. For it, he thanked the politicians on behalf of NATO and emphasized that Bulgaria is a reliable ally.
There are no plans to intervene with troops.
There are no plans for NATO to become part of this conflict
(between Russia and Ukraine – p.r.), assured the US ambassador.
The Russian occupation of Ukraine does not offer peace. It must be stopped, he added. Merten emphasized that the alliance does not interfere in the conflict, but it is important that the member countries help Ukraine so that it can defend itself.
The NATO summit in Washington made strategic decisions on existential issues. But in my opinion there are two omissions. One is that we did not invite Ukraine to join the alliance, commented the president of the Atlantic Club, Solomon Passi. According to him, such a decision could end the war more quickly. It was possible for Ukraine to join NATO like Germany did last century – first one part of the country, then the other.
The other problem Passy described is that many of the security sectors are underfunded. He gave the example of countering propaganda and cyber security. Propaganda attacks the minds, hearts and souls of the young and their families. If the Kremlin succeeds, it will win the war in the cheapest way, Passi said.