Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said on the sidelines of the European summit in Dublin on November 13 that arms exports from Bulgaria to Ukraine are "steadily declining" and that the country no longer supplies weapons or ammunition from the stockpiles of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. UNN reports this, citing the Bulgarian outlet BNT News.
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"If you look at the export statistics of our defense industry companies, you will see that they recorded extremely high export volumes in 2022 and 2023, but these are steadily declining," Radev said.
According to him, "the technological transformation that we are observing during this war shows that there is also enormous demand for drones now."
"On the other hand, I can state that our position is clear. We no longer supply weapons or ammunition from the stockpiles of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. I clearly stated this as soon as our government took office," Radev pointed out.
Speaking about financial assistance to Ukraine, the Bulgarian prime minister said that the country is subject to the excessive deficit procedure in the EU.
"We are subject to the excessive deficit procedure. We have problems with the country's reserves. In this situation, we cannot provide financial assistance, but we certainly do not obstruct the decisions of other member states. Any country that decides to provide assistance and invest funds at its own discretion may do so. So, under the current circumstances, we are not blocking anyone.
We are ready to discuss mechanisms to ensure that these funds are directed not toward weapons, but toward humanitarian activities and support for the electricity sector and medical services. For us, it is especially important to see mechanisms for directing these funds specifically to our community if we contribute as guarantors. This community is concentrated in several regions of Ukraine," Radev said.