There are doubts that the ship that sank in the Black Sea was not transporting the declared sea salt from Egypt to Romania. This was stated by the chairman of the parliamentary group of “Progressive Bulgaria“ and the parliamentary committee on foreign policy Petar Vitanov in the program “Why?“ on bTV.
“The route, which usually takes five days, in this case took 15. Most likely there was an overloading and it was probably another type of cargo, not salt“, said Vitanov.
He stressed that there is no confirmed information about what exactly was on board. “No one can say what exactly was on board. The explosion was huge“, said the chairman of the parliamentary foreign policy committee.
There is no evidence who is behind the attacks
According to Vitanov, over 460 ships have been attacked in the Black Sea since the beginning of the year, with most of the attacks taking place in the last few months. He said that the ships were attacked by both the Ukrainian and Russian sides.
“There is still no indisputable evidence as to who is behind the attacks in the Black Sea. Logic suggests that these were Russian strikes, but when we speak on behalf of the state, we cannot afford to speculate“, said Vitanov.
According to him, the working hypothesis remains that these were most likely Russian attacks. Bulgaria is looking for evidence, including debris from unmanned aerial vehicles or sea drones, but such has not yet been found.
Vitanov indicated that the number of ships hit by the Ukrainian side is approximately slightly higher, but he refused to provide details of the data presented to the National Security Advisory Council. According to him, merchant ships are also used to move troops and transport weapons.
The investigation is being carried out with partner services
According to Vitanov, the investigation is being carried out under NATO protocol, using the assistance of Romanian, Turkish and other partner services. He said that Bulgaria cannot point to Russia as the perpetrator before it has evidence.
“We have no qualms about stating that it is most likely a Russian drone. But before we have any evidence, we cannot declare it as an established fact“, Vitanov said.
He explained that Article 4 of the NATO treaty is not triggered in such incidents. According to him, the Alliance does not encourage its use in such cases, as its excessive application may devalue the mechanism.
Sailors from the second ship were rescued
Vitanov said that he did not have information whether Bulgaria had responded to criticism for the rapid termination of search operations. However, he praised the Bulgarian teams that rescued all the distressed sailors from the second ship.
According to him, there was also a ship with an entirely Bulgarian crew nearby, sailing under a Bulgarian flag, which was not injured.
Vitanov called on Bulgaria to strengthen its flank, work for stability in the Black Sea and seek initiatives to reduce tension. "Bulgaria cannot do anything on its own," he said, emphasizing that security policies in the region are coordinated with partners in NATO and the European Union.
Sources: btvnovinite.bg