Bulgarian parliament passes declaration barring military involvement in Ukraine

The document was supported by 204 MPs, according to the Bulgarian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

The declaration states that Bulgaria wants to participate in possible negotiations between Ukraine and Russia as one of the interested parties.

The statement notes that this position takes into account Bulgaria’s membership and obligations in NATO, the UN, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Supporters of the ruling coalition said the purpose of the declaration is to reassure citizens in response to media reports suggesting that Bulgaria might send troops.

“No one is asking anything from us, and we are approving a declaration in which we state that even if someone does ask something from our army, we will not send troops. Everything in this declaration has already been said before, and we are simply repeating what has already been stated,” said Toma Bykov, a representative of one of the parties that submitted the declaration, GERB.

The report recalls that claims about the possible deployment of Bulgarian soldiers to Ukraine were part of the election campaign of the Vazrazhdane party and other pro-Russian parties back in 2023. Bulgarian President Rumen Radev also expressed concerns about sending Bulgarian troops to Ukraine.

• In January, the leader of the pro-Russian Vazrazhdane party, Kostadin Kostadinov, made territorial claims regarding the southern part of Odesa region.