Bulgaria is late in taking measures to protect against drones and low-flying aerial threats. This was stated by the chairman of the parliamentary group of "Continuing the Change" Nikolay Denkov in the program "Day ON AIR".
“Bulgaria is very late in taking the right measures”, said Denkov. According to him, building the necessary defense capabilities requires time, and the integration of new systems cannot be done immediately. He pointed out that the country has also been slow in concluding the necessary agreements and starting to build its own capabilities.
International initiative against drones
Against this backdrop, the Council of Ministers approved Bulgaria's accession to an international initiative to develop and introduce capabilities to counter drones and other low-flying threats. Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Romania, Sweden and Turkey participate in it.
The cooperation provides for an analysis of available and future technologies, an assessment of their capabilities against current threats and coordination of further actions. The accession is subject to subsequent ratification, meaning that the decision does not lead to the immediate deployment of new drone defense systems.
The government has also approved accession to a framework agreement between France and Denmark for the joint acquisition of 32 VL MICA anti-aircraft missiles for the air defense systems of the Navy's multi-purpose patrol ships. The next step is for the National Assembly to approve the investment expenditure.
Denkov: EU and NATO can limit Russian aggression
In his comment on the war in Ukraine, Denkov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin does not take into account Donald Trump, the European Union and China.
„Putin does not take into account Trump, the EU, China. The only thing that can stop Putin at the moment is force“, said Nikolay Denkov.According to him, the EU and NATO have significantly greater economic and defense power than Russia and the joint actions of the two alliances are an opportunity to limit Russian aggression. Denkov said that Putin has been acting recklessly for five years now.
He also called for a more categorical diplomatic reaction to a new incident in the Black Sea. “Mitrofanova must be warned. If there is another strike in the economic zone or in our territorial waters - she must go, a note must be sent“, said Denkov.
Criticism of the government and the presidential runoff
Denkov criticized Rumen Radev's government, stating that in his opinion there are signs of failure. He pointed to lies, concealment of information and election results as indicators.
The chairman of the parliamentary group of “We continue the change“ rejected the allegations of a new political coalition being prepared and said that his party is not holding talks with Boyko Borisov and Delyan Peevski to overthrow the government.
Denkov defined the upcoming run-off between Andrey Gyurov and Iliana Yotova as an election related to the security and responsibility of political representatives. He stated that Andrey Gyurov should be a corrective to the government and criticized the messages that there are no real threats to Bulgaria.
Meanwhile, a meeting of the defense ministers of Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey was held in Sofia. The three countries agreed on increased exchange of information, improvement of situational awareness and improvement of early warning capabilities for threats in the Black Sea.