PM Radev after Consultative Council for National Security: No Claims Can Be Made That the Attack Was Carried Out by Russia Without Having Evidence

“We cannot claim that the attack was carried out by Russia without having evidence. This is one hypothesis, and when we are talking about national security, we cannot work with hypotheses.” Prime Minister Rumen Radev said this to journalists after the meeting of the Consultative Council for National Security on October 7.

President Convenes Consultative Council for National Security over Bulgaria’s Maritime Security

According to Radev, Bulgaria will propose, together with Turkey and Romania and with support from its US partners, that the area where the strikes occurred be examined, particularly the area where the “Able” vessel is located:

Rumen Radev, Prime Minister: “The ship is still afloat; It was hit both on the hull and the superstructure. We need to examine the debris so that, if we actually find any, we can determine conclusively whether these drones were Russian or Ukrainian. We have also proposed, following our request to EMSA, that the debris from the sunken vessel be examined entirely free of charge, so that we can see whether we can also find drone fragments there. Only then can we say what type of drone it was and who carried out the attack.”

During the meeting, reports were received from the defence minister, the Chief of Defence and the heads of the security services that there had been no communication with the Ukrainian side regarding the nature of the drone, the Prime Minister also said.

Rumen Radev reiterated that there is no immediate threat to our country.

Rumen Radev, Prime Minister: “I cannot say that there is an immediate threat. Of course, there are risks to national security. There is a war being waged not far from us and, as I said, it is expanding its geographical scope. It has also entered the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Bulgaria. But at this point I can say that there is no direct threat to Bulgaria’s national security.”

“We are making every effort and doing everything possible, within the budget available to us and within the framework of the European Union and NATO, to build a wall that will give Bulgarian citizens confidence that we can respond in situations like these,” the Prime Minister added.