In its closed session held today, the Bulgarian parliament approved the sending of Russian-made S-300 air defense system missiles, which were described as “defective”, to Ukraine. In the closed session, where Chief of General Staff Emil Eftimov and Deputy Air Force Commander Petyo Mirchev also addressed the MPs, it was stated that in the voting, the only party that opposed the delivery of the missiles to Ukraine was the pro-Kremlin Vazrajdane (Rebirth) Party, and the Bulgarian Socialist Party passed the parliament during the closed session. It was reported that he left.
HOW WILL THE BULGARIAN ARMY BE AFFECTED BY THIS SITUATION?
During the discussions before the closed session, Parliamentary Defense Committee Chairman Hristo Gacev said that the donated S-300 missiles were very old and even the manufacturer could not repair them. Gacev assured the MPs that the missiles donated to Ukraine would not affect the war readiness of the Bulgarian army in the slightest, and stated that through the donation, a risk to Bulgarian military personnel was actually eliminated by disposing of ammunition in bad condition. Gacev noted that the issue the country should focus on is the procurement of new air defense systems.
THEY ASKED FOR THE MINISTER’S RESIGNATION
The proposal was discussed in the Defense Committee of the Bulgarian Parliament yesterday and was accepted with 11 votes to 4. During the discussions regarding the S-300 missiles, some MPs accused Defense Minister Todor Tagarev of endangering the country’s national security and demanded the minister’s resignation. Tagarev, on the other hand, said that Bulgaria’s military aid to Ukraine did not include an air defense system and that Bulgaria’s donation consisted only of missiles that were beyond repair.
In his statement yesterday, Chief of General Staff Eftimov said that it is dangerous to keep the 5V55R missiles used by the S-300 air defense system because they are defective and they threaten the lives of military personnel. Eftimov also noted that the donated missiles represent 3 to 5 percent of the S-300 missiles in Bulgaria’s inventory. (UAV)