The operation with the American planes passed without consequences for Bulgaria, there is no point in going back to the past, said the chairman of the UDF, Iliya Lazarov, to Bulgaria ON AIR on the issue of concealing information about the US tanker planes in Sofia.
"It is natural that information will be concealed, this is a military operation. Most likely they were used for other missions. The operation is over. Now we have a request from the US to deploy new aircraft, our government has said that this can only be done at the airport in Bezmer, which is the right decision", he commented.
According to him, it is not right to deploy foreign aircraft at the airport in Sofia.
"We must fulfill our commitment to the US. There is no need to lie to people - there is a risk for Bulgaria on several lines. The first line is a reaction from Iran - whether it will be diplomatic or otherwise, we will worsen our relations with Iran. It maintains relations with known terrorist groups, they may incite them to carry out certain actions on our territory. Our services, together with partner services, must work on the topic since yesterday", said Lazarov.
He is of the opinion that if we take preventive measures, there is a high probability, over 90%, that we will cope with this risk.
There is no option to be an ally of a Great Power and not respond to its needs, and the risk must be calculated, Lazarov is convinced.
The leader of the UDF emphasized that security and defense have their price.
We cannot pay for a 150 thousand army, we are currently barely supporting a 35 thousand army, which can gather at the "Vasil Levski" stadium.
According to Lazarov, Bulgaria is not that far away, but the Iranians cannot reach us.
"There is no way the Iranians can shoot through Turkey or through Greece. We are currently provided with security by NATO and the USA", the guest emphasized.
According to him, Trump has embarked on an adventure without being ready to go all the way.
Iran warns Bulgaria over US planes on “Bezmer“
"You have to go and overthrow the regime. Their analyses turned out to be wrong. There has to be a ground operation with 200-300 thousand people. This means a lot of casualties. Can the political class and the US president afford it on the eve of the elections? "A war is won with a ground operation, not with drones and missiles," Lazarov analyzed.
The leader of the UDF explained that it was GERB's decision to remain silent in parliament and support reasonable decisions.
"The budget is bad and will not be supported. Even if GERB supports it, our representative will not do so. It is stupid not to support reasonable decisions just because you are in opposition. It is exactly like that in the European Parliament. To this day, there are UDF cadres in various structures because they do a good job," Lazarov also said.
"Ms. Yotova's candidacy is very serious. A classic left-wing candidacy. She is a very prepared person, she has European training, she is respected in Europe. The question is for the democratic community to put forward its own candidate. Kostov pointed to Andrey Gyurov, I think that a good candidate is Professor Daniel Valchev. They can't say that he's not up to it. We haven't had any conversations with him," the guest announced.
He believes that if you want to participate in the elections with a chance of winning, there must be a great consensus: "That's how we did it in 1996"
If they haven't been invited before when discussing a joint candidacy, the UDF will not support Gyurov in the second round, Lazarov warned.