Bulgarian PM Radev: Tribunal for Putin makes sense only if he is captured
A tribunal for Russian ruler Vladimir Putin for his aggression against Ukraine would make sense only if he is captured, Bulgarian Prime Minister Roumen Radev said on May 22.
Radev was asked by reporters to explain why the absence of Bulgaria from signatories to the initiative on a special tribunal to prosecute Russia for military aggression against Ukraine.
As The Sofia Globe reported on May 16, opposition parties slammed Bulgaria’s absence from signatories to the initiative.
“Bulgaria has the right to its own opinion on these issues,” Radev said.
“Such a tribunal has an effect when a country is defeated, capitulated and its leader is captured. I think that these conditions do not exist at the moment and are unlikely to exist in the foreseeable future,” he said.
When in office as president, Radev opposed Bulgaria’s supplying of military equipment and other forms of support to Ukraine, instead speaking in favour of a “diplomatic solution”.
Radev, speaking on May 18 after meeting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, responded to a reporter’s question about encouraging peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow, by saying that at this stage the most important thing is for the negotiations to begin.
“It is high time for diplomacy, because the war of attrition actually exhausts all participating and supporting countries, economically and socially,” Radev said, expressing hope that these negotiations would begin as soon as possible.
Asked by reporters why Deputy Prime Minister Ivo Hristov, known for his Eurosceptic views, was appointed to be in charge of the interdepartmental commission on Bulgaria’s hosting of the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest, Radev said that “Europe needs a solid dose of Euroscepticism to survive in the modern, extremely complex world”.
“It is high time for Europe to start working from the position of common sense, from a realistic assessment of what is happening in Europe,” Radev said.
