Rumen Radev: I have always defended the Bulgarian interest, the plans of Council of Ministers may leave our army without reserves for years to come

• On the occasion of the meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy' - "I have always defended the Bulgarian interest, not the interest of other countries. The question is whose interest politicians from the Bulgarian Parliament and government are defending"

• On providing old shells to Ukraine - "No matter how much they convince you that the warehouses will be quickly filled, this is not true. These are processes that take years."

• About the decision of the Parliament to instruct the energy minister to start negotiations with Ukraine on the sale of equipment meant to be used for Bulgaria’s Belene nuclea power plant project - "On what basis did they take this decision in one day, on the basis of which energy strategy for the development of Bulgaria, on the basis of which estimates and analyses? This is not just about the reactors, but about the fate of this project, and isn't it right for them to sit down, put all the options at the table for the development of our energy sector and then make this decision?"

• On Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov's interview with Politico - "This is a continuation of the dark series - a Bulgarian prime minister using foreign media to slander the country.

• On the decision of the Bulgarian Parliament to reject a proposal to hold a referendum on retaining the lev as the country's sole currency up to the year 2043 - "This decision shows fear, disregard and distrust towards the Bulgarian members of the public. Once the legal conditions are met, these signatures are collected, it is right to hold a referendum. I cannot re-submit tp the Parliament a referendum proposal that has already been rejected.

The government's plans to provide Ukraine with old shells from the Bulgarian army's warehouses and replace them with new ones will leave our military without stocks for years, as restocking is a lengthy process. This is the position of President Rumen Radev, who on July 10, 2023, answered journalists' questions for the first time after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to Sofia.

Radev said he was not familiar with the list of demands made by Ukraine.

Bulgaria to send new military aid to Ukraine - politicians' reactions

"How come the National Assembly suddenly decided to untie the government's hands to empty the Bulgarian army's warehouses? No matter how much they convince you that they will be quickly filled, this is not true. These are processes that take years. I hope you are under no illusions that we will have new weapons that will come from somewhere? There is a rapid process of replanning going on, of changing the criteria so that certain weapons and ammunition are released and declared redundant based on new estimates. And here I call on the government to be very careful, because this concerns our national security and they must show responsibility. The security environment is serious everywhere, but we will, according to this logic, according to these plans that are being prepared at the moment, remain without stockpiles for a long period - years, and let them answer what the security environment will be in our country during that time," Radev said.

The head of state called on the government to justify its claims of unity and transparency by announcing its intentions with regard to the aid Bulgaria will send to Ukraine."

Radev accused the government of not having its own opinion and position, but following that of the big partner countries.

On the occasion of Zelensky's visit to Sofia, Bulgaria’s Head of State pointed out that he had never refused to receive the President of another country at his insistence. Radev explained that when a Prime Minister invites a foreign President, the dialogue between the institutional requires that this at least be agreed with the President before the invitation itself.

He criticized the Council of Ministers for not following the rules of protocol and not coordinating the visit with the Bulgarian President beforehand, but informing him afterwards.

"In this situation, it would have been easiest for me not to hold such a meeting, but this would not have been a good signal for Bulgaria and not a good signal for the 300,000 Bulgarians in Ukraine. So I hope that the Council of Ministers will respect the elementary rules of protocol and such events will be coordinated in the future.

I have always defended Bulgaria's interests, not those of other countries. The question is, whose interest are politicians from the Parliament and the Government defending? Who sets their policy? Last October, one of the presidents from Eastern Europe sent a draft declaration for immediate support for Ukraine's membership in NATO from all the countries of Eastern Europe. I refused to sign at the time because Ukraine's admission to NATO before lasting peace is established there means direct NATO-Russia conflict. And then there was a howl against that, but now those same fierce critics of mine have suddenly changed their minds and accepted my point. The question is, do they have their own opinion and position? Because they unquestioningly follow the opinion of the big countries, which in this case is good, because they have a reasonable position, but in fact our government do not have their own opinion and position, and that is the big problem. Nationally responsible conduct requires having your own opinion," Radev said.

Radev: I do not support supply of Bulgarian arms for Ukraine. Zelensky: If you were in my place, what would you do?

He invited anyone who wants to initiate impeachment proceedings to come forward, but added that the leading political forces should have their own clear positions.

The sale of nuclear reactors to Ukraine would call into question the fate of the entire Belene Nuclear power plant project, Radev said. He asked on what basis such a decision is made and called for all options to be carefully discussed beforehand.

MPs adopt decision to instruct Energy Minister to negotiate with Ukraine for sale of two nuclear reactors intended for Belene NPP

"On what basis did they take this decision in one day, on the basis of which energy strategy for the development of Bulgaria, on the basis of which estimates and analyses? This is not just about the reactors, it is about the fate of this project. Should it not have been right for them to sit down at the table, take out all the options for the development of our energy sector and then make this decision? There are many options. The caretaker Government, for example, worked very closely with France, and I have personally spoken to Macron, and France has sent a memorandum on the development of the Belene project - a European project with the leading role of France. So they should present all the options and then decide," Radev said.

He also commented on Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov's interview with Politico, describing it as "a continuation of the dark series - a Bulgarian prime minister using foreign media to slander the country".

"In order to dangle the Russian threat as a cover for a showdown with the services in the name of personal and partisan interests exactly according to the script of the recordings (referring to the released audio recordings from a meeting of the National Council of “We Continue the Change”). And it's unfortunate that they're slipping Mr. Denkov on this plane, but apparently he doesn't mind slipping on it," President Radev said.

After the Parliament's decision to reject the proposal for holding a referendum to retain the Bulgarian lev as the country’s sole official currency until 2043, the President has no way to bring this proposal back to Parliament for discussion, Rumen Radev further said. According to him, despite the procedural flaws in the vote, the will of the MPs is clear.

Bulgaria’s Parliament rejects holding referendum on retaining the lev as the only official currency until 2043

The President spoke in favour of holding the referendum on the European currency and stressed that Bulgaria should join the euro area when it is actually ready, not when we want to and at any cost.

"It is not good for politicians in the National Assembly to pretend that there are no signatures of half a million Bulgarians. This is not good. Once the legal conditions are met and these signatures have been collected, it is right to hold a referendum. This decision to reject the proposal for the referendum, shows fear, disregard and distrust of the Bulgarian people. How this referendum should be worded is a separate question. For me, the way it is formulated, 20 years is a too long period (of postponement of the adoption of the euro). But the efforts of politicians should not be focused on how to stop the referendum, but to convince the Bulgarian citizens that joining the eurozone works for their well-being," Radev stressed.