site.btaGERB Leader, President Trade Barbs over Bulgaria's F-16, PM and Defence Minister Offer Clarification

President Rumen Radev and GERB leader Boyko Borissov Friday traded barbs, continuing a feud triggered by a glitch in a new F-16 aircraft Bulgaria has recently acquired. Later in the day, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov offered clarification about the problem. 

President Radev criticizes the GERB leader’s attitude towards defence matters. “What is happening right now with the F-16 [fighter jet] is a reflection of the overall approach of [GERB leader Boyko] Borissov’s administration to defence issues,” the President told reporters at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier in Sofia where he paid tribute to soldiers fallen in World War II. 

The technical glitch in the newly delivered F-16 fighter jets that has been in the media spotlight since the end of April and is heavily politicized. 

Radev also said, “Regarding the F-16, I want to state clearly that the problem is not with the aircraft, nor with the American side, as some speculate. First, the aircraft is newly manufactured; second, the American side is strictly fulfilling its obligations under the contract. The major problem is that in 2019, it was Borissov’s government that drastically cut the ground technical package, which, according to the recommendation of the American side, must be present at the base to maintain the aircraft reliable.”   

Borissov promptly reacted and urged the President to say in so many words "that the F-16 Block 70 is not a good aircraft". "And let the U.S. government and Lockheed Martin respond to him - I don't manufacture them," Borissov told the press in Parliament. "As for the F-16, remember that Valentin Radev was Defence Minister when [Rumen Radev] was Air Force chief, and they lobbied in front of me for the F-16. When he met [US President Donald] Trump in Paris, he said they were expecting the F-16. When he piloted the F-16, he said it was the best aircraft. I don’t understand—when is he being sincere?" Borissov commented.  

The matter of the F-16 malfunction was discussed during a Q&A session in Parliament on Friday, when the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister took questions from the MPs. Prime Minister Zhelyazkov said that the F-16 Block 70 fighter jet delivered to Bulgaria from the US is air- an battle-worthy. He noted that as part of the warranty maintenance of the aircraft, a "warranty block" has been replaced. "I am not an expert. I am informed about the chronology. If it were not for the political skirmish on this topic, it would all be in the realm of warranty maintenance of an asset. I will not go into the ideological dimensions, because it is clear to everyone in this hall what is meant when one moves from a Soviet platform to a NATO-compatible platform," Zhelyazkov argued. 

Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov made a statement to journalists at his Ministry on Friday due to, what he described as "the ongoing speculations and politicization of the F-16 issue. Both contracts for the acquisition of the F-16 Blok 70 aircraft include the necessary supplies of spare parts, consumables and warranty maintenance services for the use of the aircraft,” Zapryanov stated.