MFA: Russian claim Bulgaria escalating war is propaganda rhetoric
The claim by the Russian Foreign Ministry that the Bulgarian Parliament’s vote to supply arms to Ukraine makes Bulgaria responsible for prolonging and escalating the war in Ukraine fully fits into Russian propaganda rhetoric, Deputy Foreign Minister Kostadin Kodzhabashev told a news conference on November 10.
“Bulgaria is a sovereign state and all institutional decisions, including that of Parliament, are dictated only by the interests of the country, as well as by our commitments to the Allies,” Kodzhabashev said.
He said that the position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs remains unchanged and it strongly condemns the actions of Russia in Ukraine.
Kodzhabashev said that he did not consider it “a good tone” for representatives of a foreign country, in this case Russia, to comment on the decisions of Bulgaria’s Parliament.
Bulgaria could not in any way accept Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova’s accusations that Sofia bears full responsibility for the prolongation and the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, he said.
“Russia and Russia alone is responsible for this war,” Kodzhabashev said.
“Bulgaria’s position regarding the conflict in Ukraine remains in support of Ukraine and it is consistent and very well known – who is the aggressor and who is the victim in this war is beyond dispute.”
He said that long before Parliament’s decision on November 3, Bulgaria had been designated an enemy country by Russia, and not the other way around.
“Bilateral relations are indeed at an all-time low, but her (Zakharova’s) statement further escalated the situation,” Kodzhabashev said.
According to a transcript of Zakharova’s remarks posted on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry, she said: “We consider the decision of the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria to provide Ukraine with military and military-technical support as another unfriendly attack on our country, which will lead to further degradation of bilateral relations that are already in a deplorable state.”
“Now the responsibility for the prolongation and escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, the thousands of civilian casualties, the destruction of civilian infrastructure and the undermining of security in Europe falls fully on Sofia,” Zakharova was quoted as saying.
(Photo: Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
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