The 14-month captivity of the Bulgarian sailors from the "Galaxy Leader" in Yemen seems to be about to end. Will the Bulgarians become part of the large prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas?
Bulgarian MEP Elena Yoncheva has received unofficial assurances that the crew of the "Galaxy Leader" ship will be released. It is still unclear when this will happen. The Houthis say they will closely monitor the implementation of the agreement between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire and the release of hostages. The "Galaxy Leader" and its crew, which includes two Bulgarians, Captain Lyubomir Chanev and Senior Assistant Captain Danail Veselinov, have been in captivity for 14 months.
Bulgarian MEP Elena Yoncheva has reviewed the ceasefire and hostage release agreement signed between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. She was struck by the fact that it does not say a single word about what happens to the hostages held by other groups that support Hamas. This is exactly the issue Yoncheva raised at a meeting with negotiators in Doha.
"On January 11 last week in Qatar, I held a meeting with one of the main negotiators for the release of the crew of the "Galaxy Leader" ship. I should clarify that informal meetings between the main powers in the conflict between Israel and Hamas and the mediators negotiating the ceasefire are taking place in Doha. And I received assurances that the Bulgarians in Yemen are about to be released," explained Elena Yoncheva, MEP from the DPS - NN.
Today, the spokesman for the Yemeni Houthis said that they had shelled Israeli army positions. And he threatened that if Tel Aviv did not respect the ceasefire with Hamas, it would pay a high price.
"Our military attacked Israeli positions with a "Zulfiqar" missile, which was not intercepted by air defense systems and hit its target. The Yemeni armed forces confirm their categorical support for the Palestinian resistance in Gaza and their readiness to take appropriate military action if Israel violates the ceasefire," said Yahya Sareh, a spokesman for the Houthis.
According to Yoncheva, the Houthis will first wait to see how the agreement between Israel and Hamas is being respected and then they will make a decision about the hostages they are holding in Yemen.
"I must also pay attention to the statement on Thursday evening by the leader of the "Ansar Allah" movement - Abi Malik Al-Houthi, he said that he will monitor how all stages of the agreement in Gaza are being implemented and then he will make a decision on how they will continue. Here is what Al-Houthi says, I quote: "Today's ceasefire and the related negotiations, including the conversation about the hostages, are part of a larger strategy," he says. And this morning I spoke again with the authorities in Sana'a, in Yemen, and they said they would inform me of their upcoming decisions," emphasized Elena Yoncheva, MEP from the DPS - NN.
During the upcoming session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg next week, Yoncheva will insist that the European Union take a public position on this issue with the hostages being held by groups supporting Hamas.
The manager of the Mening company told BNT that both the Bulgarian state and international organizations and insurers are making efforts to release the Bulgarian sailors and the crew of the "Galaxy Leader".
"Of course, we hope, we all sincerely hope that this will happen as soon as possible, because the psychological burden on them and their families, you understand, is simply enormous," said the MP. Zoltan Sulay, manager of a shipping company in Varna.
The Bulgarian sailors are being provided with the opportunity to communicate with their families. They are being provided with food, medicine and essential items.
"They have been moved from Al Hudaydah on the Red Sea, a port city in Sana'a. Sana'a is also no longer as safe as it was a few months ago. You know that I am working on the issue of reuniting Lyubomir Chanev and Danail Veselinov with their families," summarized Elena Yoncheva.
Yoncheva added that she believes that all Bulgarian institutions are working hard to release our sailors.
The story of the hijacked ship "Galaxy Leader" began 14 months ago and has gone through several stages. The ship was attacked and detained by the "Ansar Allah" group in the waters of the Red Sea on November 19, 2023. Then the Yemeni Houthis announced that they would seize all vessels owned by Israeli companies as a sign of sympathy and support for Hamas. For nearly 6 months, no one had access to the ship's crew and the two Bulgarians - Captain Lyubomir Chanev and Senior Assistant Captain Danail Veselinov.
The crew was shown publicly on May 12, 2024. Then the Houthis let a Red Cross team, local and foreign journalists, visit the sailors. In this way, the world was convinced that everyone on the ship was alive and well.
For a long time, the government's actions were kept in complete secrecy. In mid-September 2024, MEP Elena Yoncheva announced that she was in Yemen and in the port city of Hudeidah, where the crew and the ship were being held, she met with the Bulgarian sailors Lyubomir Chanev and Danail Veselinov. Then Yoncheva also announced that she was talking to the authorities in Sana'a about the release of the Bulgarians.
The caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev was very careful in answering journalistic questions. And in the published report on the activities of the caretaker government at the end of last year, it is recorded that efforts to resolve the case of the detained Bulgarian sailors in Yemen continued in 2024. Two days ago, the press secretariat of the head of state announced that President Rumen Radev had spoken with the Palestinian ambassador to our country and the two discussed "some specific aspects concerning the process for the release of the two Bulgarian citizens".