The European Union has activated a financial support plan for Ukraine and will provide up to 90 billion euros through a common European loan. The decision was made after negotiations between the heads of state and government that lasted nearly 17 hours, without reaching the point of using frozen Russian state assets.
Former Defense Minister Prof. Todor Tagarev described the decision as a compromise, but sufficient for the functioning of the Ukrainian economy.
"Ukraine needs about 45-50 billion euros per year to maintain its economy in wartime conditions. These funds will be provided through a general EU loan guaranteed by the European budget," explained Prof. Todor Tagarev on "bTV".
According to the expert, the loan option was necessary due to the disagreement of countries such as Belgium and Italy to directly use frozen Russian assets. There are about 210 billion euros of Russian state assets in Europe, with nearly 180 billion of them in Belgium.
"Russian assets remain frozen and will not be returned to Russia before the end of the war and the fulfillment of reparations obligations," emphasized Todor Tagarev. He added that the European Union reserves the right to use these assets to repay the loan in the future.
The former defense minister expressed sharp bewilderment at the actions of the Bulgarian representatives in Brussels. According to him, our country's position was unclear and contradictory, with Bulgaria initially joining the countries opposed to the use of Russian assets.
"It is not clear who is developing Bulgaria's position and on what basis. This is especially worrying at a time when the government is resigning," said Todor Tagarev. He admitted that the Foreign Minister may have acted without coordination with the Prime Minister.
Prof. Todor Tagarev warned that the lack of transparency could once again leave Bulgaria on the periphery of European security and defense processes.