Bulgaria confirms supplying arms to Iraq as reaction to ‘Islamic State’ threat
Bulgaria’s government confirmed on September 30 that it had agreed to supply emergency military assistance to Iraq in the form of 1800 firearms and close to six million rounds of ammunition.
In a statement, the cabinet said that it had taken the decision on September 18.
The military aid was being provided by the Bulgarian Ministry of Defence. It said that the donation of surplus army light weapons and ammunition was worth close to 5.96 million leva (just less than three million euro).
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had held consultations with the government of Iraq on co-ordinating the sending of aid. The donation had been received and accepted by the Iraqi government.
Transportation of the military equipment was carried out using “partner countries”, Bulgaria’s cabinet office said.
It said that the legal basis for the provision of military aid was a June 2004 UN Security Council resolution and an EU position of July 2004 on the rules for supplying arms and related materiel to Iraq.
Bulgaria’s government said that in recent months, the growing influence of the “Islamic State” organisation had become supranational, jeopardising the security and stability of the entire region.
The cabinet said that on August 15 2014, EU foreign ministers had adopted conclusions on Iraq, expressing strong concern about the significant deterioration of security and the severe humanitarian situation in that country.
The EU foreign ministers had condemned in the strongest possible terms the actions of “Islamic State “and welcomed the decision of the individual member states to react positively to the call of the Kurdish regional authorities to urgently provide military assistance, the cabinet media office said.
(Photo via flickr.com)
