Bulgaria’s new government confirms it will help Ukraine with weapons

Bulgaria’s newly appointed Defense Minister Todor Tagarev said he supports military assistance to Ukraine amid its counteroffensive against Russian forces.

The BTA news agency quoted Tagarev’s statement.

Outlining the priorities of the Bulgarian Defense Ministry, the new minister specifically mentioned security in the Black Sea region and Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.

“We will have security when the last occupier leaves the border of Ukraine, and the Kremlin’s aggressive intentions are blocked. This is the only way to guarantee our region and future,” Tagarev said.

“We must do everything necessary both to strengthen our defence capabilities and to assist Ukraine so that it can continue the counteroffensive that it has launched and liberate its territories. We have to do this within the framework of the European Union’s decisions and the National Assembly’s decisions,” he emphasized.

In November 2022, the Bulgarian parliament supported a resolution to supply Ukraine with military and technical assistance. But unofficially, the former pro-European government of Kirill Petkov allegedly provided Kyiv with more than a billion dollars worth of ammunition and weapons.

On Tuesday, the Bulgarian parliament approved a government headed by Prime Minister academician Nikolay Denkov, which will serve for the next nine months as agreed between the two largest parliamentary blocs, GERB-SDS and Continuing Changes – Democratic Bulgaria.