site.btaUPDATED Coalition of the Willing Cannot Move Forward Without Lasting Ukraine-Russia Peace, Bulgarian Defence Minister Says

A proposed Coalition of the Willing (CoW) cannot become a reality unless a durable peace agreement is reached between Ukraine and Russia, Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov told reporters ahead of a meeting of the parliamentary Defence Committee on Tuesday.

CoW is a group of Western countries supporting Ukraine's defence against Russia. On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that the coalition would hold military exercises in countries neighbouring Ukraine.

Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said Bulgaria would not join the initiative, noting that he had personally received an invitation from President Macron to participate.

Commenting on the government's position, Stoyanov said the PM had ruled out participation for a straightforward reason – at this stage, only the political intention to create such a coalition exists.

According to the Defence Minister, there is currently no formal legal or institutional framework underpinning the initiative. "There is no document, nor anything else establishing such a coalition at this point," Stoyanov said.

He recalled that Bulgaria joined the European Sky Shield Initiative during the caretaker government in 2022.

Stoyanov argued that too many initiatives with overlapping objectives have emerged in recent years. "We already have NATO's missile defence system, we have the Sky Shield Initiative, which also includes commitments related to missile defence, and now there is a third possible initiative linked directly to the production of such systems by Ukraine," he said.

He added that Bulgaria was not closing the door to future participation. "Let's first see how this develops. It is an open initiative, and we can always join it at a later stage," the Minister said.

Asked whether Bulgaria risked becoming isolated in foreign policy by staying outside the coalition, Stoyanov rejected the suggestion, stressing that the country remains an active participant in all other relevant international defence initiatives.

During his hearing before the parliamentary Defence Committee, Stoyanov rejected claims by Democratic Bulgaria and Continue the Change that Bulgaria had altered its foreign policy course by declining to join the Coalition of the Willing. He insisted that "Bulgaria has not changed the course of its foreign policy and continues to look to the West".