Bulgaria will not finance the purchase of lethal weapons for Ukraine under the European Peace Support Mechanism. This was decided by Rumen Radev's government at its meeting today.
The Council of Ministers adopted a Decision approving the position of the Republic of Bulgaria for constructive abstention on measures under the European Peace Support Mechanism (EPSM) to provide support to Ukraine for financing the purchase of new lethal weapons, the government press service announced.
For this year, Bulgaria's contribution to the mechanism has been set at just over 9 million euros. However, there is no preliminary distribution of how much of it was for the purchase of weapons for Ukraine, which is fighting against the Russian invasion. However, Bulgaria has already transferred over 6 million euros to help Ukraine under the mechanism this year. This happened with a decision by the government of Rosen Zhelyazkov in February this year.
"Bulgaria will finance only non-lethal aid to Ukraine and will also insist that Bulgarian funding be directed as a priority to areas with a Bulgarian ethnic population", the Council of Ministers explained.
"As a country in the Black Sea region, the Republic of Bulgaria has a strategic interest in ending military operations in the immediate vicinity of its borders. Focusing entirely on non-military aid sends a clear signal to the international community that Bulgaria supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, but rejects the logic of endless military confrontation and is looking for ways to open diplomatic channels for negotiations", the government of Rumen Radev motivated its decision.
This is the second type of arms aid that Bulgaria has terminated after "Progressive Bulgaria" took power. First, donations of weapons from the Bulgarian Army warehouses were suspended.
The European Peace Facility has a total value of over 17 billion euros and has existed since 2021. In September this year, the EU unblocked aid of over 6 billion euros for the purchase of weapons for Ukraine.
Thanks to the mechanism, Bulgaria has recovered over 3 million euros after the donation of weapons.