Bulgaria’s Cabinet security council: Just and lasting peace can be achieved through security for Ukraine, EU
We have agreed on the understanding that a just and lasting peace can be achieved through security for Ukraine and the EU, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov said on March 4 after a meeting of the Cabinet security council to review and analyse the geopolitical situation and the resulting risks to national security.
Zhelyazkov called the meeting after the Trump administration suspended military aid for Ukraine.
As the Cabinet security council meeting was in progress, the BBC reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine was “ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership” to negotiate a peace deal and ready to sign a minerals deal.
Zelenskyy also proposed some initial stages towards ending the war, including releasing prisoners, and a truce in the sea and sky.
Zhelayzkov told reporters after the Cabinet security council meeting that Bulgaria cannot afford, either actively or passively, to be put in a situation where it has to choose regarding its support and attitude towards the war in the different trends expressed by the EU and the US.
“We view them as allies in Nato and as a joint guarantor for the protection of our national security,” Zhelyakov said.
He thanked all participants in the meeting – which was attended by security ministers, representatives of the intelligence services and to which heads of all parliamentary groups were invited – for the constructive tone, as everyone relied on the understanding that “the puzzle of our national security is a shared responsibility of the political forces.”
“Therefore, all decisions that Bulgaria will defend are based on decisions of the National Assembly and in harmony with the same decisions,” he said.
Zhelyazkov said that the risks to national security in the event of the continuation and termination of the war were also discussed, including hypotheses of US participation and withdrawal in various forms of support and participation.
He said that the possibilities of the EC’s ReArm initiative have also been considered – including generating resources in a special fund for the re-industrialisation of the military industry, opportunities through the national budget.
As The Sofia Globe reported, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on March 4 a proposed ReArm Europe plan that she said could mobilise close to 800 billion euro for a safe and resilient Europe.
(Photo: government.bg)
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