CoM: Bulgaria's position for NATO summit fully consistent with national interest

The position for the NATO summit in Washington, which the Council of Ministers approved, fully reflects Bulgaria's national interest and reaffirms the consistent support for Ukraine, both at national and allied level. It is fully in line with the decisions of the National Assembly. This is stated in a press release by the Council of Ministers on June 28.

The Bulgarian position has been elaborated in detail in the course of nearly a year by Bulgaria's Permanent Delegation to NATO, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The document is classified, as is the case always with regard to positions of the Republic of Bulgaria on matters concerning foreign policy and current international issues, where irregular access to such documents would affect adversely the interests of the State. One of the reasons is that the document refers to a series of other intra-Alliance processes and Allied materials, including such assigned the highest level of security classification.

Despite the fact that it may not be made public, the document for the Washington Summit does not contain any stands that are different from those Bulgaria has stated so far:

• Bulgaria remains fully committed to the strong and united response of NATO, the EU and the international democratic community to the brutal Russian military aggression against Ukraine.
• Bulgaria firmly supports Ukraine in its just cause to stand up for its right to freedom and independence and to its own choice of its own security guarantees.
• A peaceful outcome of the war cannot be at the expense of Ukraine's territorial integrity. Russia should observe international law.
• Russia's aggression against Ukraine constitutes a conflict between those two States, and NATO should not be directly involved in that war. Bulgaria favours reconfirming NATO's support for Kyiv by means of military technological assets and personnel training outside Ukrainian territory.
• Bulgaria supports the plans that have been developed at the insistence of the Eastern flank countries and the presence of NATO troops on the Eastern flank. This enhances the defence capabilities of the Alliance and additionally guarantees collective defence.
• So far, no discussion of sending Bulgarian troops to Ukraine has taken place or is envisaged.

Bulgaria stands ready to continue to provide military technological assistance to Ukraine. So far Bulgaria has provided a total of six packages of military technological assistance which is not free-of-charge and is reimbursed from the European Peace Facility, international financial assistance, or other Allies.

Within the context of marking the 20th anniversary of Bulgaria's accession to NATO and the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Alliance, Bulgaria remains a loyal and reliable partners for the common security policy of the North Atlantic Treaty, the Council of Minister’s press release says.

President Radev declined to attend NATO summit

Yesterday, June 27, the press office of the Head of State announced that President Rumen Radev did not accept the proposal of the Council of Ministers to lead the Bulgarian delegation and to participate in the NATO summit of heads of state and government, which will be held in Washington. The announcement added that the Head of State did not accept certain aspects of the framework positions adopted by the Council of Ministers concerning commitments that Bulgaria is making regarding the war in Ukraine.

After President Radev's refusal, caretaker PM Glavchev will lead the Bulgarian delegation to the NATO summit in Washington in July