The President of Bulgaria is against the accelerated accession of Ukraine to NATO

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev did not support the joint statement of nine European leaders regarding Ukraineʼs membership in NATO. He believes that the door to NATO is open for Ukraine after the end of the war with Russia.

BNR writes about this.

Radev stated that Bulgaria supports the decision of the Bucharest NATO Summit in 2008 regarding the future membership of Ukraine in the Alliance, but this declaration was made under different security conditions. In his opinion, Ukraineʼs membership should be approved by all NATO members, taking into account the risks of direct involvement in the war.

The decision on Ukraineʼs accession to NATO should be made only after the formation of clear parameters for a peaceful settlement of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which should be accepted and implemented by both belligerent states, Radev believes.

• On September 30, after Putin announced the annexation of four regions of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi signed an application forUkraineʼs accelerated accession to NATO.
• The USA responded that Ukraineʼs accession to NATO is not timely. The Alliance said that the decision will be made by consensus of all 30 members. Canada, on the other hand, supported Ukraine in the Alliance.
• Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Presidentʼs Office, said that Ukraine held a series of consultations with NATO and the UN before submitting the application. Politico wrote that this was a surprise for the US.
• On October 2, the presidents of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia issued a joint statement in which they supported Ukraine in NATO and condemned the annexation of Ukrainian territories.