site.btaUPDATED Bulgarian Parliament Supports Ukraine's NATO Membership Once Peace Is Restored on Its Territory

The Bulgarian National Assembly Thursday supported Ukraine's NATO membership once peace is restored on its territory by a vote of 157 in favour and 57 against. 

The votes in favour came from GERB-UDF, Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms and There Is Such a People, which proposed the draft declaration.

Vazrazhdane and BSP for Bulgaria voted against.

The 49th National Assembly declared that the most direct and desirable path for the restoration of peace in Ukraine, the Black Sea region and Europe is the complete and immediate voluntary withdrawal of the Russian Federation outside the internationally recognized state borders of all sovereign states affected by it.

The National Assembly categorically demands an immediate end to nuclear blackmail and to all actions of the Russian Federation which flagrantly violate the UN Charter and constitute the most serious blow against the peace and well-being of both the European and Russian peoples, the document says. The Bulgarian Parliament supports the peace formula of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose goal is lasting and just peace.

In order to guarantee Ukraine's ability to defend itself from the aggressor on its territory, the National Assembly insists that the institutions in Bulgaria continue to provide political, financial, humanitarian, military and military-technical support until Ukraine's sovereignty is restored completely within its internationally recognized borders, the declaration says.

Parliament reaffirms its full support for NATO's Open Door policy, independent of external factors; it expects the Bulgarian government, including at the upcoming Alliance Summit in Vilnius in July, to express a position in support of Ukraine's NATO membership, once peace is restored on its territory. At the same time, it calls on the Allies to outline clear parameters of Ukraine's path to NATO membership at the Summit.

The declaration also states that Parliament supports the launch of the planning process and the adoption of concrete parameters and a timeframe for Ukraine's membership in the Alliance and the expansion of strategic relations.

Lyuben Dilov MP of GERB-UDF said the declaration supports the Ukrainians' right to choose. "We support what Bulgarians have suffered for, not only in the last 30 years - the desire for self-determination," he added.

Borislav Gutsanov MP of BSP for Bulgaria urged that the document be withdrawn. "Who made you adopt such a declaration, which parliaments have come up with such a declaration?" he asked. "You invited Zelenskyy for unknown reasons, and no one knows what talks are being held at the moment."

Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov said the question is what Bulgaria gets in return for what it gives. In his words, the questions raised by the declaration are many more than the answers. The Bulgarian government should raise the issue of the autonomy of the Bulgarians in Ukraine, according to Vazrazhdane.

Yordan Tsonev MP of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms said: "I do not see why so many different issues were raised in this debate, given that Bulgaria has made its choice and is a NATO member. How does this declaration involve Bulgaria in the war when it is a call for Ukraine to join NATO after the end of the conflict, he stressed.