The war in Ukraine and the guarantees of security in the region are in the focus of the new session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Where does Bulgaria stand on the terrain of European defense and what will the partnership with the German concern "Rheinmetall" bring us. This was commented on the air of "Crossroads" by political scientist Prof. Ognyan Minchev.
“Bulgaria's role in the “Coalition of the Willing” is to be part of this coalition, since in practice NATO and the EU had to be developed in the specific aspects of European assistance to Ukraine and the strengthening of European defense structures”, commented Prof. Minchev.
According to him, the reason is that according to the Trump administration, Europe was not doing enough for its security and the US refused to replace European efforts, which they had been doing for decades according to the American president. “And since the EU does not have its own internal security structure, it was necessary to resort to flexible formats of bringing together European countries and taking initiatives that would lead to the development of European defense structures and increasing its capacity”.
“Bulgaria's place is significant, although it is not one of the large countries in the EU. We are located in the center of the Balkans, which is a very important region for Europe. It seems to me that although Bulgarian institutions are responding to calls for the development of common European security, we are lagging behind in terms of the need to convince Bulgarian citizens of what Bulgaria should do for its security in the rapidly changing international context,” he explained.
The new political season in the European Parliament began with a request for a strong role for Bulgaria
“Ursula von der Leyen said that at the beginning of the war, Bulgaria was the one that provided about 1/3 of the weapons for Ukraine. This was due to the fact that the Bulgarian military industry specialized in the production of Soviet-type ammunition, which was extremely important for the defense of Ukraine. But the phrase “at the beginning of the war” disappeared in the interpretations and it turned out that we are taking on about 1/3 of the armament of Ukraine even now”, joked Prof. Minchev.
According to him, the truth is that at the beginning of the war, Bulgarian ammunition significantly assisted the defense of Ukraine.
“Regarding Von der Leyen's visit - one of the important aspects is the public launch of the joint project with “Rheinmetall” for the creation of enterprises for gunpowder and 155-millimeter shells”, he commented.
“Bulgaria is interested in the development of this type of cooperation, since we really have traditions in military production and we could be quite good partners in its development - especially in those aspects in which the country has specialized for a decade”, explained Prof. Minchev.
“Rheinmetall” will own 51% of the share package, and the Bulgarian state - 49%. This seems normal to me, since “Rheinmetall” is the main company involved in the project. It is very large and successful and Bulgaria cannot compete with its size and economic potential. I think this is not such a big problem”, he added.