PM: Bulgaria will propose using its unspent EU RRF funds for defence sector
Bulgaria will propose using its unabsorbed and unabsorbable funds from the Recovery and Resilience Facility for the country’s defence cluster, Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov said in Brussels on March 6, arriving for a special meeting of EU leaders to discuss the bloc’s continued support for Ukraine and European defence.
“Bulgaria has a strong military industry, which we must modernise, develop and contribute to pan-European security,” Zhelyazkov said.
He said that from a financial point of view, the development of defence capabilities should not endanger cohesion and cohesion funds.
“Therefore, we will make a proposal to give the opportunity to use unabsorbed and unabsorbable funds from the Recovery and Resilience Facility – again in the Bulgarian economy, but for this defence cluster.
“From now on, serious work is ahead within the country,” Zhelyazkov said.
He said that at the moment, Bulgarian industry has potential for development, which should be done on the basis of industrial cooperation according to Nato standards.
“The resources that we would propose to be committed for this should be invested in Bulgarian public and private industry,” he said.
Zhelyazkov said that nothing related to peace in Ukraine can be resolved without Ukraine.
Regarding support for Kyiv, he said that everything that Bulgaria has undertaken as a commitment and with the decisions of Parliament would be implemented.
Asked by reporters whether the sending of Bulgarian military personnel to Ukraine had been discussed, he said that there is a very clearly expressed position on this topic, evident from the declaration adopted by the Bulgarian Parliament.
As The Sofia Globe reported at the time, Bulgaria’s Parliament voted on February 21 to approve a declaration that the Bulgarian armed forces may not participate in military actions in Ukraine outside the country’s alliance commitments in Nato and other international commitments within the framework of the European Union, United Nations and Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
In response to a question, Zhelyazkov said that it is yet to become clear what exactly the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron is.
“These are not initiatives within the framework of the European Union and the formats of the Union, but it is important that we are participants in all formats that guarantee the security of the Union,” Zhelyazkov said.
He said that the United States must remain in all security formats and expressed hope that the US would “continue to be committed to our collective security based on values”.
(Photo: government.bg)
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