site.btaPresident Asks Foreign Ministry for Details about Bulgarian Allegedly Forced to Join Ukrainian Military

The Bulgarian President’s Administration has asked the Foreign Ministry to provide details about Lyubomir Kirov, a Bulgarian national who has allegedly been forcibly mobilized from the Ukrainian city of Odesa into the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the President’s press secretariat said on Tuesday. The presidential institution expects the Foreign Ministry to say whether it has taken any actions in the case.

Earlier in the day, the Chair of the Bulgarian National Assembly Committee for Bulgarians Abroad, Stoyan Taslakov, also requested information on the case and called on Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and the Foreign Ministry to take action, the Vazrazhdane party said in a press release.

According to Taslakov, Kirov was forced to join the Ukrainian Armed Forces despite his disability status and without official notice to the Bulgarian institutions. Kirov’s family turned to the Bulgarian Consul in Odesa for help, and the Consul accompanied them to the military centre where, according to witnesses, Lyubomir was taken. The diplomat’s attempt to explain who he is was met with “utter hostility”, the MP said.