Bulgarian military personnel to participate in EU Military Assistance Mission to Ukraine
Bulgaria’s caretaker government adopted on February 15 a decision to implement the National Assembly’s vote on providing military and military-technical support Ukraine, which allows the participation of Bulgarian military personnel in the EU Military Assistance Mission (EUMAM) to Ukraine, the government information service said.
This does not mean, however, that Bulgarian military personnel will be sent to Ukraine, but they will participate in training Ukrainian military personnel in other EU countries and in Bulgaria.
One staff officer will be deployed to the planning unit in Belgium, up to five military personnel – officers or non-commissioned officers – to the multinational command for joint military training in Poland or Germany, and up to 50 military personnel for training to use weapons and equipment provided within the framework of the EU Military Assistance Mission, in other EU member states or in Bulgaria.
“The participation of Bulgarian military personnel in EUMAM will be a clear sign of our country’s support for the Common Security and Defence Policy and, in particular, for the military assistance mission to Ukraine,” the government information service said.
In a separate statement, the Defence Ministry said that caretaker Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov, when asked by journalists whether more equipment and weapons are about to be sent to Ukraine, replied that the ministry “had already implemented the decision of the National Assembly of December 9”.
Stoyanov, who was attending a meeting of Nato defence ministers, said: “The support for Ukraine voted by the National Assembly has been provided, it was logistically provided by our allies, so Bulgaria did not pay for its transportation,” he said.
The comprehensive aid package for Ukraine was also discussed at the meeting of Nato defence ministers, the Defence Ministry said
Bulgaria will continue to participate in it through the medical rehabilitation fund. Fund opportunities have already been used by Ukrainian servicemen in previous years; there are financial resources set aside for it.
“Bulgaria already provided humanitarian aid to Ukraine last year in the form of helmets, bulletproof vests, medical packages. I expressed the readiness of Bulgaria, as a leading country in the medical rehabilitation fund, to contribute more to this package,” Stoyanov said.
President Roumen Radev, who as head of state appointed the caretaker government, repeatedly has spoken publicly against Bulgaria sending further weaponry to Ukraine.
(Photo: government.bg)
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