Bulgaria has still not sent the previously promised armored personnel carriers to Ukraine from the reserves of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Bulgaria. The country has already resolved logistical issues, but will look for the possibility that one of the countries participating in the "Ramstein" format will finance the transportation of the armored personnel carrier.
This was stated by the Minister of Defense of Bulgaria Todor Tagarev, "Bgnes" reports.
"This is a very serious logistical operation. We also know the amount that is needed [for transportation]. It would be too much for our budget, but first we will try the option in the Rammstein format — whether one of our other allies will say: "This is a very good idea, I will pay for the transport," Tagarev explained.
If the Ramstein allies do not agree to pay for the APC shipment, then the Bulgarian government will look for other financing options. The logistics process will take two months from the moment funding is secured.
What happened?
The Bulgarian government approved the project to transfer armored personnel carriers to Ukraine in August 2023. On November 22, the Bulgarian parliament finally approved the agreement on the transfer of 100 decommissioned armored personnel carriers.
On December 4, 2023, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev vetoed the free transfer of about 100 armored personnel carriers from the stocks of the Bulgarian Ministry of Internal Affairs to Ukraine. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has never used them, and has been paying for their maintenance and storage for the past 25 years. According to him, the deputies who approved the agreement "were not sufficiently familiar with the specific parameters of the donation", and the outdated equipment intended for Kyiv is needed by the Bulgarian police, border guards, and rescuers.
It was possible to overcome the veto already on December 8, 2023. The proposal to cancel the presidential veto was approved by 161 votes, 55 deputies were against it. The session of the Bulgarian Parliament was interrupted twice. Also, the majority of the Bulgarian parliament supported the provision of additional military aid to Ukraine and the possibility of using Bulgarian airspace to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets.
- At the beginning of Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Bulgaria officially refused to provide weapons to Ukraine. But on November 3, 2022, the parliament approved providing military support to Kyiv. On December 23, 2022, Bulgaria announced the beginning of the transfer of military and military-technical assistance to Ukraine.
- On January 20, 2023, Die Welt published an investigation, according to which Bulgaria actively supported Ukraine with ammunition and diesel fuel in the first months of the full-scale war, although it was publicly opposed to the supply.
- In October 2022, the publication EurActiv wrote that Bulgaria is one of the largest non-public suppliers of weapons to Ukraine. Bulgaria officially handed over two packages of military aid to Ukraine.