Members of the Bulgarian Parliament’s Budget and Finance Committee commented Tuesday on Germany’s call for all European Union member states to commit to covering Ukraine’s projected budget shortfall in 2027 before any discussions begin on the bloc’s next long-term budget.
“The collective commitment of all of us, without exception, to contribute fairly towards addressing this shortfall is an essential prerequisite for resolving this problem,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wrote in a letter to European Council President Antonio Costa, Agence France-Presse reported earlier. Four EU countries – Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Czechia, have already indicated that they will not take part in providing additional financial assistance to Kyiv. Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were granted an exemption in 2025 from contributing to the interest payments on the EUR 90 billion loan, the Financial Times reported.
“It is high time our colleagues from Progressive Bulgaria and Mr [Rumen] Radev clearly understood that the EU relies on solidarity among its member states, and that this solidarity must be demonstrated across all areas of policy,” Assen Vassilev of Continue the Change told reporters in Parliament. “You cannot say that you like one thing and will take only that, while you dislike another and will block it. If you want to do that, you will have to persuade enough other EU member states to stand in solidarity with our position,” Vassilev said.
“I would like to recall what we did with Bulgaria’s position on [North] Macedonia. As long as we sat in the corner with our veto, all the attacks were directed at Bulgaria, accusing us of blocking [North] Macedonia’s accession to the EU. When we went out, explained our position and found allies, the Bulgarian position effectively became the EU’s position. The attacks on Bulgaria stopped, and the pressure shifted to [North] Macedonia, with the message that it had to fulfil the requirements set by the EU,” Vassilev said. He added that this was how foreign policy should be conducted, rather than sitting in a corner and “stamping our feet”.
According to Vladislav Goranov of GERB, Bulgaria’s refusal to participate in such support would amount to a crime against humanity, as solidarity among European countries with Ukraine, which has been attacked, must continue. “We are nowhere near the end of the war, and this kind of double standard, which we often see from President Radev – saying one thing in Europe and another in Bulgaria, puts the country’s overall orientation at risk,” Goranov said. Bulgaria must be part of the common European solution, he added.
Tsoncho Ganev of Vazrazhdane commented that Merz’s remarks were directed at certain other countries, such as Hungary, Czechia and Slovenia, rather than Bulgaria. Bulgaria had only stated verbally that it did not support the initiative, but when the matter was discussed at the European Council, Radev did not in any way say that he would veto it, Ganev said. He added that the countries which had explicitly threatened to veto the proposal, and those Merz was now addressing, were members of the Visegrad Group. “Bulgaria is continuing the policy of previous governments of complying with everything the EU asks of us. I will say it again, with regret: we have no foreign policy that puts national interests first, and Radev is continuing what Borisov and Peevski did,” Ganev said. “We must firmly oppose yet another move that would saddle us with payments for Ukraine – a bankrupt country that already has more than EUR 300 billion in debt to whom knows whom, money we will never get back. If this is proposed and approved, with further tranches of funding to be released, Bulgaria must take a firm stand and, if necessary, join our partners Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovenia in imposing a veto,” Ganev said. However, these are discussions in which the current government, too, lacks the courage to defend national interests, he added, describing most of its members as “yes-men” who agree with absolutely everything.

Bulgarian MPs Comment on Germany’s Call for EU Solidarity in Supporting Ukraine Ahead of Next Long-Term Budget Talks THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-11-10 04:59:10

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