Bulgaria will not veto the 21st package of sanctions of the European Union against Russia, but has reservations regarding the inclusion of certain individuals in the sanctions list. This was stated by the Minister of Defense Dimitar Stoyanov in an interview for the program “Face to Face“ on bTV.
According to him, the government's position has already been announced by the Prime Minister and remains unchanged.
“Bulgaria expresses certain reservations regarding certain individuals from this list. We confirmed this position“, said Stoyanov.
When asked whether this means that the country will veto the sanctions package, the minister was categorical: “No. This is not a veto. These are reservations that we propose so that these individuals are removed from the sanctions regime.“
In this way, Bulgaria will not prevent the adoption of the 21st sanctions package, whose approval by the EU member states is expected on July 14, but will insist on changes to part of the sanctions list.
In the interview, Stoyanov also commented on the Bulgarian position regarding support for Ukraine. He stated that the country has exhausted its capabilities for providing weapons to the Bulgarian Army and does not have the financial capacity to allocate funds for military aid to Kiev this year.
The minister recalled that previous Bulgarian governments had made a financial commitment of $80 million to the international PURL mechanism, through which the purchase of weapons for Ukraine is financed, but emphasized that the current cabinet has not made such payments and does not plan to do so by the end of the year due to budget constraints.