In this pre-election situation, the cases in the Black Sea, which has not been a military zone since yesterday, served as a tool for acquiring political dividends and seemed to create conditions for the nation to once again divide into philists and phobes and for us to imperceptibly turn into slaves. Until now, responsible political figures said that there was a risk, but no threat. But now everyone has admitted that there is a threat. There is a threat to both the military, economic and environmental security of Bulgaria.
This was said by the candidate for vice-president Slavcho Velkov in the studio of "Denyat ON AIR".
According to him, the main question is whether we are sufficiently prepared to respond adequately to this threat.
"Our readiness to react seems frivolous"
"Obviously we are not, given that we are turning to outside help. We heard that new anti-aircraft missile systems would be purchased, and organizational processes are being activated. If we add the fact that Europe is literally boiling and seething, including with victims and wounded, as well as this extremely complex, tense, dynamic and rapidly changing security environment, we must say that everything we talk about in terms of readiness somehow seems frivolous. Military technologies are developing so fast, so fast that we don't know if tomorrow we won't witness a new weapon against which F-16s will be helpless," Velkov added on Bulgaria ON AIR.
He is of the opinion that there is no basis for applying Article 5, because there is no NATO country attacked.
Who is behind the attacks on ships in the Black Sea
"It is not known who the perpetrators are. We should note the fact that Turkey quietly withdrew the ship that was hit 2 weeks ago from our economic zone. And this after the conversation between Erdogan and Putin. Our Prime Minister said that it makes no sense for Ukraine to hit its own ships. However, in war, the logic is not always what we think. Many years ago - on September 1, 1939, Germany started World War II with a provocation in Poland, where it dressed Germans, criminal types, in Polish uniforms", recalled Velkov.
"But one can also conclude that these are not drones, because strikes at sea can be carried out by naval drones, they can be inflicted by a torpedo. What I see, the hit on the port side - the huge hole, is that they are talking about a hit with kinetic energy and a hit with the side of some vehicle. It is very likely that this was also an unmanned boat. And Ukraine operates them, I am not saying that it carried out the attack, but it is very difficult to hit such a large ship from all three sides with a drone. What is the logic of Russia bringing NATO to the Black Sea? None", the vice-presidential candidate emphasized.
Velkov on NATO's anti-drone defense
Velkov believes that NATO's anti-drone defense is also not at the required level. "There is a moratorium in the Black Sea. It has been in place for 90 years".