PM Kiril Petkov: I will demand Defence Minister Yanev's resignation today

Bulgaria's Prime Minister Kiril Petkov gave a statement to the media from the Council of Ministers. Today, February 28, at 15.00, the Council of Ministers will hold an extraordinary meeting, the government press office said earlier.

The meeting will include three items on the agenda:

• Evacuating successfully 140 Bulgarians from Kyiv, as there is a window which Bulgaria must use;
• The nuclear threat which Russian President Vladimir Putin made on Sunday, which may be an attempt at intimidation, but which cannot be ignored;
• Demanding the resignation of Defence Minister Stefan Yanev.

PM Petkov stressed that he worked successfully with Yanev in the first caretaker government appointed by President Rumen Radev and that the Prime Minister supports the policy for investment in the Bulgarian army.

Yanev's resignation will be demanded on Monday and put for voting in an extraordinary sitting of Parliament on Tuesday.

In Petkov's words, no minister in his government has the right to "their own foreign policy, even less so by Facebook posts". No minister can tell the government that his staying in place is a function of the stability of the government. My defence minister cannot use the word operation instead of the word war. It cannot be called an operation when thousands of military from one side and the other have already been killed. Soldiers who are younger than my eldest daughter. When the Bulgarian minority is being shelled, when Bulgarians in Kyiv are hiding under basements because they are afraid their homes might be blown up. When we see something we do not agree with, we cannot say that the Bulgarian interest is to keep quiet, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said.

The EU has never been more united, he stressed. This war must stop, peaceful people cannot be at risk of being shelled. We as the EU, we as Bulgaria, must do everything possible to end this, Kiril Petkov added.

Petkov said he talked with all four of the coalition partners on Sunday evening and all have supported the move to demand Yanev's resignation.

Petkov's message came after late on Sunday evening Yanev said in a Facebook post that he was not stepping down.

In his post, Yanev wrote “Don’t expect me to hand my resignation in this geopolitical situation.” He believes that his critics aim to see him replaced by somebody “who is more willing to push through certain foreign interests” in the Bulgarian foreign policy and especially in the area of defence.

The Defence Minister came under fire for being overly cautious in his comments about the Ukraine crisis and refusing to use the word “war”.

In his Facebook post, Yanev said that “allegations that he is conducive of foreign interests, are a downright lie” and that he has always been guided by the Bulgarian national interests. He said that “Bulgaria should not demonstrate pro-Russian, pro-American or pro-European policy”. “Bulgaria must demonstrate a position in defence of its national interests. It must defend the rights of its citizens, guarantee their security and peace, and the prosperity of the Bulgarian state. The goal is one: to preserve our statehood, culture and national identity,” Yanev said.

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