The Minister of Foreign Affairs Velislava Petrova held a meeting today at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the Ambassador of Ukraine to Bulgaria in connection with the entry of a drone into Bulgarian airspace in the Kardam region.
"There are serious discrepancies"
"This is the way in which the information is presented to us by the government and government officials. The most striking discrepancy is that the Prime Minister stated on Saturday at noon that the drone was large and exploded, while the Minister of Defense said yesterday that most likely the drone did not explode. The curious thing is that specialists from the Ministry of Internal Affairs had to come to say whether there was an explosion or not, since most of the expertise is in the army. The answer whether it exploded or not could have been given in the first hours, and whether the drone was a helicopter type or an airplane type could have been said in the first hours," said former Defense Minister Prof. Todor Tagarev in the studio of "Denyat ON AIR".
He recalled that the photos were not shown immediately.
The photos were shown three days late
"The photos were shown three days late, and only partially. They haven't been shown yet. I don't understand what the government's strategy is. It's probably trying to use this case for other purposes. What we asked Ukraine is also a curious question. The fact that the ambassador was summoned, and then questions were asked and that we are waiting for answers also seems very strange to me. The Ministry of Defense maintains good channels of communication both at the political and military levels. At least during my time, it was like that," added Prof. Tagarev on Bulgaria ON AIR.
He did not rule out the possibility that these channels were disrupted.
"We do not know what we asked - is this drone Ukrainian, Ukraine will answer us, but this is hardly the highest priority in these heavy military actions that are currently taking place. We must not forget that last night there were five dead, many wounded - civilians, in large cities. Russia continues to strike and this is unlikely to be Ukraine's top priority," the guest emphasized.
Is the drone Ukrainian?
"Last week, the Lithuanian Minister of Defense warned that Russia could use a grounded and slightly damaged drone in a so-called "false flag" operation to attack critical infrastructure in a NATO country. Our politicians, in particular the Prime Minister, should definitely be kept informed on these issues, but we are bypassing this case. This leads me to think that even if the drone is Ukrainian, even if it is not a false flag operation, the only other possible explanation is a scenario in which this drone deviated," the former minister explained.
Prof. Tagarev believes that this case "we generally missed the mark".
"I understand that the drone is small, even if it is claimed that we increased aerial surveillance 2 weeks ago and response means, but we were unable to see it with the old Soviet equipment that we insist on maintaining for over 35 years. There is another version that I initially ruled out, but now I am not so sure, given the fact that the government provides very little information and it is strictly controlled - sabotage, it could be a drone that was mastered by Russian structures, handed over to groups that launched it with the idea of testing our security system, our reaction, including the psychological reaction", he further commented.
The former minister does not rule out the version that the drone flew along the border and even if it was only in Bulgarian airspace.
"The government in no way informs us what is a hypothesis, what is a possible option, what are the actually established facts. Radev is compromising relations built over years. We have built solid relations with Ukraine, which Radev is currently spending with a light hand. Vucic is the most pro-Russian politician in Europe. "How many times did Radev call Mitrofanova to tell her that we want a diplomatic solution," he is categorical.