„Our assessment is unchanged. We are talking about an aggressive war that is in violation of international rules and contradicts the UN charter, said in the program "Why, Mr. Minister" Acting Minister of Defense Atanas Zapryanov.
12 days before the NATO summit in Washington, President Rumen Radev refused to participate in it and lead the Bulgarian delegation.
„He judged that some of our national assessments, I guess because of the aid to Ukraine, differed. We will reaffirm that Bulgaria will continue to provide military technical assistance to Ukraine and assistance for the training of military personnel outside the territory of Ukraine, Zapryanov emphasized.
Relations with President Rumen Radev
„There is a dialogue between the president and the prime minister. The president is within his right to make a decision. There is no tension between me and Rumen Radev. The president is concerned about the state of the armed forces. On many issues we have no differences. The incomplete set worries both us and the president”, Zapryanov added.
„We continue to provide only equipment and ammunition that is surplus to the army. If there is an encroachment on staffing, this cannot be done by a decision of the government. This can only be done with a decision of the National Assembly. Such a moment has not yet come. Regarding “nuclear armageddon“ – the nuclear weapons NATO has are not intended to threaten anyone. The alliance has never threatened anyone”, the Acting Minister of Defense stressed.
„We have stood up for and redacted NATO documents that we felt did not meet our interests. Our policy is to strengthen the defense potential of the country, but with our own forces we cannot defend our country. That's why we rely on collective defense.
Help for Ukraine
„In the seventh aid package, there will be armaments and equipment surplus to the army. This will be voted on by the government and sent. The procedure is not easy. There is work to be done. The Ukrainian side will check the equipment and announce whether it wants it. For all the help we send, we get paid. We have requested 57 million euros for part of the packages. We have €7.5 million confirmed. We will wait years for this amount to be recovered. The USA has allocated us 32 million dollars. One of our allied countries has transferred an amount of EUR 30 million. We provide help, and we get compensated for it. We are investing the funds in modernization," the Acting Minister of Defense specified.
According to him, at this stage NATO has no plans to increase its presence in Eastern Europe.
„We will build infrastructure in Bulgaria. It must house the Alliance battlegroups that are on our territory. The same is happening in Romania. For the base near the village of Kabile near Yambol, we have sent a request to NATO for a design offer. After that, construction will begin," commented Zapryanov.
Military Intelligence
In front of public television, People's Representative Stoyan Mihalev described Venev's work as a “complete failure”. This led to an exchange of positions between Mihalev's party "Democrats for a strong Bulgaria" and the service. “Military Intelligence“ he also filed a report from the National Tax Service and the GDBOP about the statement.
„The Minister of Defense is the principal of Military Intelligence. When a military structure interferes in domestic political life, this is not good. Let the control authorities check and say. "Military intelligence functions at a very high level," Atanas Zapryanov is emphatic.
According to him, the dispute between the politicians and the “Military Intelligence” erodes confidence in both parties and intelligence. He added that he trusted Brigadier General Venelin Venev, head of “Military Intelligence”.
„It is not normal for our intelligence service to deal with our internal political problems. I, as an official minister, cannot initiate a reform in this office. There is no way an official cabinet can make such proposals, he said.
Military training
„Yes, some countries have brought back conscription. We can bring back mandatory military training for categories of citizens who want to practice professions related to carrying weapons. This can happen under a normally elected government”, explained the Acting Minister of Defense.