site.btaGERB-UDF: Bulgaria Co-authored, and Therefore Endorsed, Kyiv Declaration Even Without Physically Signing It

MP Georg Georgiev of GERB-UDF told reporters in the National Assembly on Friday that the Kyiv Declaration of July 15 is a concluding document and does not bear physical, handwritten signatures. Georgiev, who is also former foreign minister, was commenting on a controversy over whether Bulgaria's current Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova had signed the declaration adopted at the 5th Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit in Kyiv on Wednesday.

Georgiev said: "A declaration is deemed to have been signed unless a country has explicitly stated that it does not wish to participate, as Serbia did, for example."

He noted: "We are not merely included in the declaration; we are listed as a co-author of it. It is very well drafted, easy to understand, and it is clear that those listed accept and endorse the messages it contains." According to Georgiev, the situation is either "a major political blunder or a deliberate move serving the strategy of saying one thing at home and another abroad."

The ex-foreign minister went on to say that the coalition of the willing for Ukraine had been described as unnecessary the previous day and that Bulgaria did not identify with its policies or objectives, yet the following day Bulgaria declared that it regarded the coalition as a key instrument.

MP Daniel Mitov, another former foreign minister from GERB-UDF, said that the name of Foreign Minister Petrova appears in the operative part of the declaration. "Documents of this kind are not physically signed on the spot. If Velislava Petrova's name appears there, then she has signed the declaration," he argued.

Mitov added that Serbia had stated in advance that it did not wish to be included in the declaration. According to him, the apparent ambivalence in Bulgaria's policy on Ukraine – with the Prime Minister saying that Sofia does not belong in the coalition of the willing and the next day the Foreign Minister endorsing the Kyiv Declaration – does not send a good message to Bulgaria's partners, allies and Ukraine itself. "Attempting to play down this blunder, or deliberate act, is not beneficial either for the government, the Foreign Ministry or our diplomacy," Mitov commented.

GERB-UDF also announced proposals for reforms to Bulgaria's foreign relations and diplomatic service.

"Each year, through the services it provides, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs generates between 60% and 70% of the funding it receives from the central government budget," Mitov said. He said GERB-UDF proposes that revenue generated by the Foreign Ministry be reinvested in the diplomatic service through a dedicated funding mechanism, instead of being transferred in full to the central budget.

The coalition is also proposing a three-year budget formula, to be approved by the National Assembly outside the annual political cycle, with a minimum indexed target for funding for diplomacy relative to gross domestic product.

The coalition's parliamentary group will submit the proposals between the first and second readings of the 2026 State Budget Bill, which is being considered by the National Assembly.