The sailors from the ship "Vezhen" are free to disembark, the decision to continue to be on it is theirs. This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Georg Georgiev to bTV, quoted by FOCUS.
They are free to disembark from the ship, the decision to continue to be on it is theirs. In my opinion, this is their responsibility to their post and service. An investigation is underway there and in this regard the ship has been detained, but our sailors are free – they can move both on the ship and get off it, the minister explained.
A few days ago, the Swedish prosecutor's office announced that it had launched a preliminary investigation into suspicions of "sabotage" under aggravating circumstances and ordered the detention of a ship in the Baltic Sea suspected of damaging an underwater fiber optic cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland.
Yesterday, the head of the consular service at the Bulgarian Embassy in Sweden, Stefan Stoykov, met with all eight Bulgarians on board and had the opportunity to talk to them for three hours.
I am deeply convinced that there can be no question of culpable behavior, said Georg Georgiev. There was a very strong storm in the evening when this cable was torn, and from this point of view it could be an accident due to meteorological conditions. We are confident in the innocence of our sailors, the minister said.
I do not think that this ship can be called part of a shadow fleet, especially since such information is not available in any way, the minister said.
Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia will not jointly celebrate the 153rd anniversary of the birth of Gotse Delchev, because our country has not received an invitation, the minister said, describing the relations between Sofia and Skopje as "specific".
No decisions could be made on Ukraine without the participation of Ukraine itself, said Georg Georgiev, when asked about the war there. Bulgaria supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. Ukraine must always have a say in determining the conditions, the minister said.
The National Assembly has made a decision regarding our policy towards Ukraine. For the time being, our approach remains unchanged. From now on, there will be talks within the government itself and between the forces that make it up, about how we will continue. But in terms of sovereignty and territorial integrity, I don't think we have ever had any differences, the Foreign Minister replied to a question about how Bulgaria's aid to Ukraine will continue, now that the BSP is already part of the government.
A possible trade conflict between the US and the EU will lead to damage for both countries and I am sure that this will not be allowed, said Georg Georgiev.
US President Donald Trump has stated several times that he will impose tariffs on European products. On this occasion, the European Commission has now said that at the moment there is no information about planned new tariffs, Agence France-Presse reported. The European Commission expressed regret that the US has increased tariffs on products from Canada, Mexico and China, defining this measure as harmful to all countries. Brussels' reaction came a day after US President Donald Trump signed a decree in this direction.
A lot of progress has been made, said Minister Georgiev, regarding the abolition of type B visas for Bulgarians to the US. The main component that still remains is the so-called refusal rate.
One of the technical conditions for our country's inclusion in the US Visa Waiver Program is that the percentage of refused tourist visas for Bulgarian citizens should not exceed 3%.
Since last year, we have reduced it by half, which gives us confidence that next year we can reach these 3%, said Georgiev.
Since 2006, the percentage of refused type B visas for Bulgarians to the US has been below 10 twice, and in 2024 it is 6.02%, which is the lowest percentage. This is according to information on the US State Department website.