site.btaAfter Private Visit to Ukraine, MEP Emil Radev Tells BTA Kyiv Can Rely on Further Unconditional EU Assistance

EU member states' assistance for Ukraine is and will remain unconditional, MEP Emil Radev told BTA. "Ukraine perhaps has in the EU its strongest support, because we have seen the US side make a slight shift. At the moment Ukraine can rely on the European Union just as it has done throughout these four years," he said.

The interview was held after Radev completed a private visit to the Ukrainian cities of Odesa and Kyiv. He has been an MEP from the EPP/GERB since 2014 and is Deputy Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.

He told BTA: "I had heard a lot about the situation in Ukraine since the outbreak of the war. As a member of the European Parliament I follow this issue very closely, and the engagement of EU member states with Ukraine is very substantial. We are doing everything possible to ease the situation of the people of Ukraine. Not to mention how many Ukrainians are in EU member states."

Radev noted that he did not travel to Ukraine as a member of an official delegation. "I did not go there by armoured train with security and stay in bunkers. I went in my own car. But that way you see best the real situation and how people actually live in wartime conditions," the MEP said.

During his visit he saw a damaged bridge over the Dniester River, went through several air raids, and installed the app that sends alerts about imminent air attacks.

"I saw how people act when they are in real danger. And I am impressed. In Odesa I was on Deribasivska Street when an air raid siren sounded, and I saw that only one in five people headed for shelters. People calmly went on with their tasks. This shows that the wartime situation has almost become routine," Emil Radev said.

Seeing beautiful buildings dating back to imperial times boarded up with ceiling panels is not a pleasant sight, he added.

"Life, however, goes on. I am impressed by how Ukrainians manage under wartime conditions. My car broke down, and at the garage they managed to fix it within two hours." He said Ukrainians are obviously coping with all the difficulties.

"Bulgaria welcomed refugees from the war in Ukraine in a very friendly way. I live in Varna and I can see that in this region there are perhaps several tens of thousands of Ukrainians who live here permanently, have found jobs, are buying homes. There is even a distinct Ukrainian neighbourhood now on the outskirts of the city," he said.

Emil Radev strongly hopes that the war will end as quickly as possible. "Because a flourishing country is at the moment under curfew, with soldiers at all strategic sites and bomb threats. This should not be happening in the 21st century," the MEP said in conclusion.