At a briefing at the National Assembly on Tuesday, in response to a question about the latest drone attacks on two ships in the Black Sea, Continue the Change Chair Assen Vassilev said: “Following the two attacks, it is clear that normal shipping in the Black Sea will no longer be possible, with a number of consequences for imports and exports, including oil deliveries to Neftochim and exports of grain and base metals.” He said contingency plans setting out what to do if the Black Sea becomes closed to shipping must be activated.
Vassilev called for an immediate assessment of the country’s oil and fuel reserves, for reserves held abroad to be brought into Bulgaria, and for direct talks to establish whether any oil cargoes destined for Lukoil had been cancelled, whether suppliers remained willing to deliver crude oil and at what prices, and whether the cargoes would require a military escort in territorial waters. He also called for direct talks with Greece and Turkiye on options for importing refined fuels.
Asked whether a meeting with Russian Ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova had come too late, Vassilev said he could not see what such a meeting would achieve for Bulgaria. “Russia has declared us a hostile state and treats us as one. The fact that Radev’s government pretended this was not the case was brought home to it in the harshest possible way,” Vassilev said, referring to attacks on now four merchants ships off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast.
“There is no firm policy at the moment, which makes the aggressor more aggressive and turns the country into prey because of the incompetence of the Progressive Bulgaria government,” Vassilev said.
Bulgaria’s interest currently lies in both Russia and Ukraine halting their attacks in the Black Sea. Unfortunately, however, Bulgaria must accept that this is unlikely to happen, rather than burying its head in the sand, Vassilev said. Once it accepts that the Black Sea is closed to shipping, Bulgaria must safeguard domestic business and oil supplies and begin talks with Greece and Turkiye on alternative routes, he added.
Commenting on the extraordinary parliamentary sitting, convened in connection with the pardon granted to Ognyan Atanasov, who has links to drug trafficking, which failed to proceed due to a lack of quorum, Vassilev said Progressive Bulgaria and President Iliana Iotova had withheld answers from the Bulgarian public regarding the assessment of the prisoner’s conduct and the risk of reoffending. He said his party would seek answers to these questions at another extraordinary sitting.
“What information from these assessments was available to Iotova when she granted the pardon? The fact that he was ill is not enough,” Vassilev said. He noted that more than 130 people had been ill but had not been pardoned.
“If she was not aware of the assessments concerning the risk of reoffending, the assault and the prisoner’s conduct, who instructed the [presidential] Pardon Commission to breach its own standards and fail to request these documents?” Vassilev asked.
He described as cynical Progressive Bulgaria Floor Leader Petar Vitаnov’s remarks, who called the criticism a “smear campaign”.
“This is a campaign for justice, to protect all Bulgarian citizens from drug dealers and drug traffickers, and to get to the truth, because the commission violated its own rules to release these drug dealers and drug traffickers back onto the streets,” he said.
Normal Shipping No Longer Possible, Opposition Leader Says, Calls for Emergency Measures to Secure Oil Supplies 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-10-13 10:44:00
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