Ruling coalition meets in search of consensus about military aid for Ukraine

The ruling coalition meets on April 26 in an attempt to find common ground on the issue of providing military aid for Ukraine.

Of the four political parties in the coalition, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) is the only one that is strongly against the proposition. Today, they reaffirmed their position during the meeting of the party’s Executive Bureau.

A few days ago, the co-chairman of “Democratic Bulgaria”, Hristo Ivanov, declared that he will once again submit in the Parliament the proposition that Bulgaria supports Ukraine with weapons. “Democratic Bulgaria” will make use of the opportunity to propose an item for the agenda of the Parliament’s first meeting next Wednesday (May 4) and will set precisely the topic of voting the decisions in relation to the military aid.

The opposition GERB party also made a proposition about providing military aid for Ukraine. The suggestion of “We Continue the Change” is to grant “technical aid for defence”. They declared that they will seek a way to reach a uniform solution among the partners in the Cabinet.

Yesterday, Prime Minister, Kiril Petkov, announced a fundraising campaign for Ukraine, which triggered mixed reactions.

“There is Such a People” party leader, Slavi Trifonov, declared that the idea was “the most atrocious nonsense”, while the Ukranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, thanked the Bulgarian Prime Minister for the initiative.

The other issue that is expected to be discussed during the meeting of the coalition is the Bulgarian delegation’s visit to Kiev, which is planned for tomorrow. The delegation is going to take to the Ukranian capital the helmets and armoured vests, which have been promised by the Bulgarian government. The Prime Minister hopes that the ruling coalition's representatives, that will travel to Kiev, will get to see the real situation in Ukraine.

It became known today that Teodora Genchovska, the Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, will not travel to the Ukranian capital. In Kiev, the “There is Such a People” party will be represented by Stanislav Balabanov. This morning, the politician from “We Continue the Change”, Kaloyan Ikonomov, declared in front of the camera of “Nova TV” that he will represent his political party in the delegation. Members from “Democratic Bulgaria” are expected to take part in the visit as well. This afternoon, the Executive Bureau of BSP decided not to send a representative to Kiev.

Prime Minister, Kiril Petkov, declared that he hopes to reach both political and social consensus before the departure.