The two Bulgarians who are in captivity of the Yemeni Houthis since November 19, are the captain of the ship "Galaxy Leader" (Galaxy Leader) Lyubomir Chanev and Senior Assistant Captain Danail Veselinov.
On her page in the social network Facebook, MEP from DPS/Renew Europe Elena Yoncheva stated that she is in Yemen in an attempt to reach them in the hope that they will be released soon.
"For 9 months, their families have practically not seen them and are extremely worried. To date, no European politician has met them or the crew. There are three citizens of the European Union in the crew - in addition to the two Bulgarians, there is also a Romanian citizen. I hope the meeting with the Bulgarian sailors will give hope to their relatives that they are not abandoned and the process of their release is close," Yoncheva said.
In front of NOVA, she emphasized that her mission is purely humanitarian as a Bulgarian citizen, and this is "important to note".
However, who are the two Bulgarian citizens and what do we know about them?
Captain Lyubomir Chanev is 38 years old and comes from the village of Kavrakirovo in Petrica. He lives with his family, whom he has not seen for almost 9 months, in Varna. His parents, who are farmers, as well as his sister, live in the "Strumsko" district of Blagoevgrad, according to BNR information. However, none of them wants to talk about the case for fear of harming him.
Senior assistant captain Danail Veselinov is 39 years old. He is from Gorna Oryahovitsa. He worked for the Varna company "Stamko" as an intermediary for hiring crews. for 13 years and has never had such problems, said his wife Sabina Veselinova.
She shared that they had last heard from each other the day before the ship was hijacked, with Danail being in a good mood and smiling. "There were no worries. And after what happened, no one looked for us for ransom or to convey any message from him," she says. He believes that it is possible that the kidnapping was for political reasons related to the military conflict in the Middle East.