Russia must be clearly named as an aggressor, and Bulgaria must speak with one voice on security issues. This was stated by former Deputy Minister of Defense Valentin Radev on the air of “Good Morning, Europe“ on Euronews Bulgaria.
His comment came after a call by four former prime ministers – Ivan Kostov, Boyko Borisov, Kiril Petkov and Nikolay Denkov – to the government of Rumen Radev to unequivocally condemn Russia for the escalation of the war, including in the Black Sea.
Radev: We must speak with one voice on security
„We as a society have a great need to unite and speak with one voice on the topic of security. Unfortunately, this is not happening at the moment, the government speaks with two voices - one internal and one external“, said Radev.
According to him, the purpose of the appeal is to encourage those in power to take a clear position and speak with one voice on security issues. According to him, the differences in public messages create ambiguity both internally and before European partners.
We must clearly indicate who the aggressor is, because his goal is to scare us, to force Europe to stop providing so much assistance to Ukraine.Criticism of Bulgaria's position in Brussels
Radev stated that Bulgaria is not obliged to agree with every decision, but according to him, on the main issues of the war there should be no disagreement with European partners.
We should not say “yes” to everything, but regarding the main things that concern who is the aggressor, who is attacked, will we help Ukraine or not – on these issues, what difference should there be?The former deputy defense minister questioned the need for the Bulgarian prime minister to take a position different from that of most European leaders. "Why do we need a prime minister who goes there and disagrees with the other leaders, but is one of three who disagree," he said.
According to Radev, categorically naming the aggressor would send a signal to both Bulgarian society and European partners.
This will give a very good sign for us as a society and for Bulgaria to be on the side of the good forces in Europe. This way, the voice of Europe will be heard better in Russia, this voice is important.
Sources: euronews.bg