Bulgaria categorically supports Germany and stands by it in response to hybrid and other attacks. This was stated by Prime Minister Rumen Radev during the parliamentary control, commenting on the case of a drone with explosives at the Leipzig airport and suspicions of Russian interference.
The Prime Minister described the case as “extremely worrying“ and stated that he shares the definition of “reckless action“, used in his opinion by the President of the European Commission and the Secretary General of NATO in relation to Russia's actions. “For me, this is truly a reckless action“, Radev said.
The Prime Minister defended the reaction of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to him, the department was among the first to respond adequately to the case. “We categorically support our leading ally, economic and investment partner Germany and stand by Germany in response to any hybrid and other attacks“, said Radev.
Regarding the question of why Russia was not directly named as responsible in the Bulgarian position, the Prime Minister stated that the country's reaction was completely adequate. He stressed that there was no criticism of Bulgaria and the Foreign Minister from European partners. “There are absolutely no claims against the Bulgarian side, no concerns. There are no claims against the Minister of Foreign Affairs either“, Radev pointed out.
According to him, in such cases, political positions are initially expressed, and the specific evidence is subsequently provided by the services. At the moment, the Prime Minister specified, the Bulgarian institutions have not received such data. “After there are political statements, specific facts are already provided by the services. Such specific facts have not yet been received by the services," the Prime Minister said.
At the same time, the Prime Minister raised the question of whether the use of long-range weapons manufactured in Europe to strike thousands of kilometers deep into Russian territory also poses a serious risk of escalation.
“Isn't it a reckless act for leading European countries to send their long-range weapons, to attack thousands of kilometers deep into Russian territory - with weapons manufactured in Europe, with their use through information from Europe and instructors from Europe? Isn't that also reckless?“, Radev asked.
He called for this issue to also be carefully assessed, instead of the risks of such actions being ignored. “Let us judge for ourselves, let us not close our eyes. And what can we expect when our long-range weapons are used to attack deep into the rear of another country? Will it stand still or will it respond? This is the big question“, concluded the Prime Minister.
Europe must start to assess the risks of escalating the war much more seriously and return to seeking a negotiated solution as soon as possible, the Prime Minister added.
According to him, the West's attempt to achieve a conventional victory over Russia carries serious risks, given Moscow's military and nuclear potential. “The collective West is trying to achieve a conventional victory over Russia, without taking into account the fact that it is the largest nuclear power and we cannot resist its hypersonic weapons. This is visible every night over Kiev“, said Radev.
According to the Prime Minister, the continuation of the conflict increases the danger of its expansion, which is why European countries must start to assess the possible consequences much more carefully. “Europe must finally start calculating the risk and sit down at the negotiating table as soon as possible, because this war is expanding its spatial scope and the risk is growing with each passing day“, the Prime Minister warned.
He rejected the thesis that Bulgaria must unconditionally follow positions that, in his opinion, could lead to further escalation. “Europe is not a competition for conformity. And if you insist that Bulgaria must necessarily be part of the escalation, I have no such intentions“, he said.
The Prime Minister also drew attention to the cases of drones near or on the territory of European countries, naming Poland, Romania and Bulgaria. According to Radev, our country should be among those that are working most persistently to end the conflict and find a diplomatic solution.
“We must finally insist on other things. "And I think that Bulgaria is among those countries that insist that this should stop as soon as possible," the Prime Minister said. He summed up his position with the words: "In my opinion, Europe can exist without Russia. But Europe will hardly exist for long against Russia."
It cannot be stated categorically whether and from whom information was leaked during the search for a jamming device, but the initial actions in the case raise questions about the coordination between the institutions, said Prime Minister Rumen Radev during the parliamentary control in response to a question by Atanas Atanasov.
The Prime Minister said that representatives of the Communications Regulation Commission were the first to arrive on site, since they have the necessary equipment to detect such a device. “It cannot be said lightly whether information was leaked, by whom and how. I only know that the CRC goes first, because they have this equipment,“ Radev said.
According to him, the officers reached the area of the specific restaurant in “Dragalevtsi“ after the equipment showed them that the source of the interference must be located there.
“They go in front of the restaurant in question and come out of the restaurant and ask them: “What are you doing?“. “We are looking for a jammer here. Apparently it is here, because our equipment says - we have reached the place,“ said the Prime Minister. Radev pointed out that only after that were the security services and the Ministry of Interior notified. According to him, such a delay is a significant problem, since time is of key importance in such an operation.
“Only later are the services, the Ministry of Interior and so on notified. And this time is valuable, because many things can be done in this time. These are the facts at the moment, no matter how ridiculous they may be, but this is the situation“, the Prime Minister emphasized.
The real budget deficit for 2025 is not 3%, and the Ministry of Finance and the European Commission are currently carrying out recalculations, Prime Minister Rumen Radev replied to a question from Asen Vassilev.
The Prime Minister stated that court decisions cannot change the real state of state finances, and criticized the management of public funds by the previous government. “No court's regulations can fill the treasury back up and make the budget 3%, after it was actually brought to 5.7% by the previous administration“, said Radev.
The Prime Minister also commented on the amount of the minimum wage in 2027. According to him, a specific amount can be determined only after all the parameters of the budget for next year become clear. “When all the parameters of Budget 2027 become clear, then we will be able to say what the minimum wage will be“, he pointed out.
Radev emphasized that one of the main goals of the government is to limit the budget deficit and return public finances to a more sustainable trajectory. “The goal is to move towards consolidation and deficit reduction“, said the Prime Minister.
He also touched on the issue of the so-called automatisms in determining remuneration, recalling that calls have been made, including in the National Assembly, for their removal. The Prime Minister also returned to the implementation of the budget in 2025, announcing that the data is currently being reviewed by both the Ministry of Finance and the European Commission, including the real deficit. Radev concluded with a categorical assessment of the state of public finances last year.
“Believe me, the real deficit is not 3% at all for the past year“, the Prime Minister emphasized.
Bulgaria will insist that the new priorities in the next European Union budget, related to competitiveness, security and defense, are not financed at the expense of traditional cohesion and agricultural policies. This was stated by Prime Minister Rumen Radev during the parliamentary control.
According to him, the future European budget is one of the main topics in the tour of the President of the European Council Antonio Costa in the member states. “The test we are facing is great and it is related to this budget. Our ambitions are constantly growing and are related to more and more important goals, while at the same time the budget is limited in terms of resources“, Radev pointed out.
The Prime Minister noted that against the backdrop of the complex geopolitical situation and the increasing global economic competition, the EU's focus is gradually shifting from traditional areas such as cohesion and agricultural policy to new challenges. Among them are competitiveness, security and defense. “We fully understand these priorities. They are extremely important for our future and there is consensus among the member states. But at the same time, we, the so-called friends of cohesion, insist that the new priorities should not be at the expense of the traditional ones - cohesion and agricultural policy," the Prime Minister said.
According to him, several difficult meetings of the European Council are ahead, with the goal being for the member states to reach an agreement on the budget by the New Year. Radev specified that he could not guarantee that this would happen within this timeframe.
The Prime Minister pointed out the planned large European Competitiveness Fund as one of the most serious challenges for Bulgaria. According to him, there is no prior allocation of funds by country or geographical principle, which creates a risk that the most developed economies and the most competitive companies will attract a significant part of the resource.
“The most competitive companies, the most competitive countries will be able to freely attract the huge funds from this fund“, warned Radev. He pointed out that so far Bulgaria has managed to attract about 0.4% of the funds under the competitiveness program.
The Prime Minister said that he had insisted to Antonio Costa and at the European level that future mechanisms be structured so that less developed countries and smaller companies also have real access to financing. “Here we must be extremely active. We need to work with Bulgarian business so that it can be included in the large European value chains and in the large European industrial projects“, said Radev.
In this regard, he once again put forward his proposal to introduce the concept of “industrial cohesion“ into European policies. “It is not enough to have cohesion only in social activities and infrastructure. We must ensure that Bulgarian companies and Bulgarian industry will participate equally in access to this large competitiveness fund“, the Prime Minister emphasized.
Prime Minister Radev specified that the specific parameters of the instruments in the future fund are still being discussed and therefore at this stage he cannot provide more details about the way in which the concept of “industrial cohesion“ will work.
“We must have equal access to all European countries and especially to less developed countries and European companies“, he stated.
The Prime Minister also drew attention to another sensitive issue – the search for the so-called new own resources to fill the European budget. According to him, Bulgaria should approach the proposals particularly carefully, as some of them may directly affect the revenues in the national budget.
Among the options discussed, Radev pointed to the directing of part of the revenues from excise duties on tobacco products to the EU budget. “You know that Bulgaria is at the top in Europe in terms of smoking and this is a serious revenue for our budget. Part of these excise duties, it is not yet clear what, should go to the European budget. This will immediately affect our national budget“, the Prime Minister warned.