President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Sofia on Thursday for a one-day visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov. Following are political reactions to his visit.
Continue the Change co-leader Kiril Petkov: This shows how important Bulgaria is for the European Union and NATO and how Ukraine sees us as a stable partner and relies on our support. President Zelenskyy is a world leader and the fact that he has chosen to be in Sofia today shows that Bulgaria - with the new government, as during our government, can be a stable partner, that we can be counted on. Bulgaria has demonstrated today that the majority of its MPs stand firmly behind the country's firm European position - its clear support for Ukraine, and we can be proud that we are not on the periphery, we are not an unstable partner, we are not a Trojan horse, on the contrary - we are a significant, important partner that Ukraine relies on. In no way will any Bulgarian citizens be sent to Ukraine for whatever reason.
Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) leader Mustafa Karadayi: The visit itself is an assessment of Bulgaria's behaviour, the basis of which is the position of the MRF. We were the reason and the basis on the very first day of the war for the National Assembly to adopt a declaration condemning Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, while the then ruling coalition and the ruling majority in the National Assembly had decided to deal with paragraphs, full stops and commas while our neighbour was burning. MRF's position became Bulgaria's position and we have been consistent ever since.
There Is Such a People MP Stanislav Balabanov: There is nothing wrong with Zelenskyy being in Bulgaria because Bulgaria is part of the European Union, part of NATO. All of us together as a society are sympathetic to what is happening in Ukraine. If the purpose is to come and tell him again that we are sympathetic to what is happening in Ukraine, I do not know if that makes sense, maybe it is something else. As far as I know, the invitation is from the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers.
Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) leader Korneliya Ninova: Many times today in Parliament people heard concern expressed for Ukraine and for the Ukrainian people. On the other hand, concern for Russia and the Russian people. However, apart from BSP no one emphasised the Bulgarian national interest and concern for the Bulgarian people. Our assessment is that the Bulgarian national interest was sold out three times in one day - reason of the highest level. The ones to blame for it are GERB leader Boyko Borissov personally and the parties Continue the change and Democratic Bulgaria.
Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov: Bulgarian citizens are forced to follow the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Bulgaria. Bulgarians saw how the American political regime, posing as the Bulgarian government, invited the Ukrainian president to read out an American speech, which ended with the phrase 'Glory to Ukraine'. Today, Vazrazhdane's parliamentary group prevented President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from visiting the National Assembly. The President's visit missed the highest rostrum in Bulgaria because the authorities were scared of the representatives of the Bulgarian citizens in Parliament. The only Bulgarian party in the National Assembly with 37 MPs managed to stop the visit of a man whose visit to Bulgaria does not bode well.
/DS/
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