site.btaDefence Minister Describes as Fake Rumours about Bulgarian Armed Forces Being Sent to Ukraine

Allegations of political interference in the judiciary are circulating in the public domain and this topic is much more relevant than the fake topic about sending Bulgarian armed forces to Ukraine, caretaker Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said here Thursday, commenting circulating rumors that the deployment of Bulgarian troops to Ukraine has been requested.

He was called to a hearing in Parliament to discuss the matter.

The request for such a hearing is absurd because the Constitution and the Defence and Armed Forces Act clearly state who can send Bulgarian armed forces abroad, he said.

A classic war is being fought in Ukraine, and in this situation the only body empowered to make a decision on sending armed forces abroad is the National Assembly, Minister Stoyanov said. During the caretaker cabinet's term in office, the Ministry of Defence never intended and never proposed to the Council of Ministers to make a decision about proposing to the National Assembly to send armed forces to Ukraine, he added.

In line with the National Assembly's decision to provide support to Ukraine in the framework of the EU military assistance mission to Ukraine, the government adopted a decision on February 15 of this year, which envisages Bulgaria to send up to 50 servicemen as a training team under the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine). The training will take place only on the territory of an EU Member State, the Defence Minister explained. He pointed out that in connection with the repeatedly circulated speculations, on February 17, the Government Information Service reported that Bulgarian servicemen have not been and will not be posted in Ukraine [or] outside the territory of the EU Member States.

The hearing of Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov on the issue was requested by the Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) coalition. MP Daniel Lorer from the coalition pointed out that they requested Stoyanov's hearing in response to  "the numerous statements made both the Vazrazhdane party and the Bulgarian Socialist Party during the last election campaign". "The lies that, you see, someone will send Bulgarian servicemen to Ukraine are very convenient, they are the same as your lies regarding vaccines," Lorer said. "If you want to be real men, come out and admit the vandalism you did in our city and clean up the building you smeared," Lorer said in response to the recent smearing with red paint of Sofia's Europe House, which houses the European Parliament's and the European Commission's offices in Bulgaria. The building was smeared with red paint during a rally organized by the nationalist and eurosceptic Vazrazhdane party.

Nikolai Drenchev of Vazrazhdane said he saw no questions for the Defence Minister. "I suggest we dismiss the minister, obviously this is not a hearing for him, but a hearing for Vazrazhdane," he said.

Hristo Gadzhev of GERB-UDF pointed out that call-up orders of reservists were presented in Facebook groups as call-ups for mobilization, and the former are routine. "My request is to pay attention to communication so that people do not fall for some crazy news that we are going to send some troops to Ukraine, because this is absolutely fake news," he urged.

Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said that his Ministry has always refuted fake news, including when the issue of the implementation of the Armed Forces Reserve Act was raised. According to this law, every year checks of the mobilisation reserve are made, such call-ups are sent, people turn up, but this should not be a reason to talk about mobilisation, he said. Mobilisation can be declared by presidential decree when martial law is declared, and it can be general and partial, he explained.