The two Bulgarian sailors from the ship “Galaxy Leader“ were discharged from the Military Medical Academy and are now with their families in their homes. They were held captive for 14 months in Oman.
Interest remains in the negotiations for their release. MEP Elena Yoncheva, who is actively involved in rescuing our compatriots, revealed on bTV the details of the negotiations for the release of our sailors.
"Initially, I raised the issue in the EP in Strasbourg, but I quickly realized that this would not be enough. I made several statements and called on the relevant institutions to be active in rescuing them, but after a while I realized that this was unlikely to help. I asked Commissioner Borrell what was being done and I realized that he didn't even know about the topic. This is March," Yoncheva says.
Then she brings in her contacts from when she was a journalist and with great effort reaches the Houthis' organization.
„Then I contacted people who deal with this topic, with experts, and I realized that the best thing to do is to go to the site. Whenever there are such complex situations, it is good to establish a direct dialogue, to have a channel for communication with the relevant organization. And that's what I did. It was very difficult, but we did not lose hope - a colleague of mine helped me, who gave me this contact and they said they would accept me, without promising that I would be able to see the Bulgarian sailors“, the MEP also explained.
Yoncheva was categorical that there was never any talk of a ransom and that Turkey played a very big role in the rescue at this moment.
“That is why I want to thank the Turkish ambassador to the European Union in Brussels and in Sofia“, said Yoncheva.