ABV leader Rumen Petkov said that the European Union’s debt had already reached €1 trillion. He criticised European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and linked the accumulated liabilities to the purchase of vaccines, military aid and other Community expenses.
“In 2020, the EU’s external debt was around €100 billion. Today it is €1 trillion,” Petkov said on the programme “The Day ON AIR”.
According to him, this debt also affects Bulgaria. “This €1 trillion is also our debt, accumulated by von der Leyen – for vaccines that we are destroying, for weapons that we give to someone so they can build golden toilets, for money that we pour somewhere, weapons that end up on the black market,” the ABV leader said.
What the data show about EU borrowing
Official data show a significant increase in borrowing by the European Commission, but distinguish between the debt currently outstanding and the forecast for its future size. As of 31 August 2026, outstanding European Union bonds amounted to €792.1 billion, while short-term EU bills accounted for a further €44.8 billion.
The European Commission uses the borrowing mainly to finance NextGenerationEU – the temporary recovery instrument established after the pandemic – as well as other European programmes. As of the same date, around €419 billion of the funds raised had been provided under the recovery and resilience plans of the member states.
The European Court of Auditors has stated that EU borrowing could reach €1 trillion in 2027. This is a forecast of a future amount, not confirmation that the sum has already been reached.
Vaccines and military aid
In individual EU countries, COVID-19 vaccines that had expired or remained unused have been destroyed. The Associated Press reported that Bulgaria had scrapped millions of doses purchased under the European vaccine strategy. This confirms the existence of losses from unused medicines, but does not prove that the entire European debt was accumulated because of vaccines.
In the interview, Petkov presented no specific documents or data to substantiate his claim that European weapons were being diverted to the black market or used for personal gain. These assessments remained part of his political criticism of the leadership of the European Union.
In the conversation, the former interior minister also commented on the serious crash on the Trakia Motorway, the shortage of staff at the Ministry of Interior and the work of the parliamentary majority.