The people’s representatives adopted the draft decision on providing additional military aid to Ukraine submitted by GERB-SDS, PP-DB and DPS. This happened during a closed session, but it was not clear by how many and whose votes.
With this decision, the National Assembly approved sending malfunctioning 5В55Р anti-aircraft guided missiles to Ukraine. Together with them, we will also send ammunition for automatic small arms with a caliber of 5.56×45 mm, which are no longer necessary for the needs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The project decision was submitted by Boyko Borisov, Hristo Ivanov, Delyan Peevski, Ivaylo Mirchev, Kiril Petkov and Hristo Gadjev. During the debates in the plenary hall, the draft decision met strong resistance and sharp criticism from the opposition in the form of “Vazrazhdane”, BSP and ITN. It took nearly an hour for the debate to begin, as each of the three parties listed above asked for a break to ensure time for the meeting to arrive for Defense Minister Todor Tagarev, the intelligence directors, and others.
Hristo Gadjev of GERB said that Bulgaria will provide munitions that are currently out of order for the Bulgarian Air Force. “They cannot be used,” he clarified. Gadjev commented that the Ministry of Defense made an attempt to repair the anti-aircraft guided missiles, but it was unsuccessful. According to him, the minimum number of military aid that we will provide will in no way harm the combat readiness of the Bulgarian army.
Sharp reactions and criticisms came from BSP, ITN and Vazrazhdane, which declared against the provision of additional military aid to Kyiv. In the end, at the request of “Vazrazhdane”, the Chief of Defense, Admiral Emil Eftimov, and the Deputy Commander of the Air Force, Brigadier General Petyo Mirchev, were heard in a closed session, as they had to give more information to the deputies about the state of the Bulgarian army and the exact armament that is offered for provision to Ukraine.
