Deputies of the People's Assembly (Parliament) of Bulgaria adopted a bill ratifying the Agreement between the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Bulgaria and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine on the free provision of 100 decommissioned armored personnel carriers, signed between Sofia and Kiev.
The Bulgarian portal Nova writes about this on November 22.
The agreement was concluded in pursuance of the decision to provide additional military-technical support to Ukraine. As part of the agreement, the Ukrainian side will be provided with armored vehicles with its existing weapons, as well as spare parts for its maintenance, while the Bulgarian Ministry of Internal Affairs will no longer need them.
Currently watching
Debate on aid to Ukraine among Bulgarian deputies
Before the vote, there was a short debate in plenary session. Deputy Borislav Gutsanov from the BSP (Bulgarian Socialist Party) noted that “over 34 years, out of more than 110 thousand people, about 20 thousand remained in the army,” and pointed out that now the state wants to give 100 armored personnel carriers to Ukraine instead of having them serve the needs of the Bulgarian army. According to him, if his colleagues do not want to feel like national traitors in a few years, they should think about our country and “stop.”
Deputy Nikolay Drenchev from the Revival party commented that Bulgaria currently needs this equipment.
“Just as Ukraine needs this technology, we need it too,” he believes.
Politician Hristo Gajev from GERB-SDS (Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria and the Union of Democratic Forces) noted that we are talking about equipment belonging to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, not the Ministry of Defense, and assured that the equipment of the Ministry of Defense is not affected in this agreement. According to him, light all-terrain vehicles are much better suited for border security than heavy armored vehicles, since in the worst weather they get stuck in the mud.
Ceyhan Ibryamov from the DPS (Movement for Rights and Freedoms party) noted that a variety of statements were heard from the parliamentary rostrum, but nothing on the substance of the agreement being discussed.
Want to rest? Come to Facti.GAMES!
“What we will provide to Ukraine is equipment that is no longer needed,” he said.
Ibryamov added that emotional statements should not be allowed and Bulgarian society should not be artificially frightened.
In turn, Kostadin Kostadinov , leader of the Revival party, said that “by giving this equipment to Ukraine, we will actually give it 1 billion (Bulgarian – Ed .) levs,” and criticized the fact that no one commented on who would pay transportation of armored personnel carriers. According to him, most likely, these costs will again be borne by Bulgaria.
Ivaylo Mirchev from PP-DB (political party Democratic Bulgaria) noted that many lies were told during the debate. He noted that this technique, which is already 40 years old, is not worth 1 billion leva, and this is speculation. Mirchev noted that all military equipment that “we donate and which is not serious in terms of quantity is paid for by the EU.”
Bulgarian Defense Minister Todor Tagarev recalled that we are talking about 12.7-mm machine guns, which were used to perform internal functions, and the decision to transfer armored personnel carriers to Ukraine belongs to the parliament.
