Ukraine will not receive 100 Bulgarian APCs: the President vetoed it
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev vetoed a bill passed by the parliament to transfer about 100 wheeled armored personnel carriers to Ukraine.
The Bulgarian president’s decision was announced on the official website of the head of state.
Radev cites the reasons for this decision as “the deputies were not sufficiently familiar with the specific conditions of the free provision of equipment, which did not allow them to objectively assess whether the equipment provided was necessary or not” within the country.
Radev said that the law did not take into account the tasks assigned to the Interior Ministry, the needs of the Border Police and the country’s firefighters.
According to him, the armored vehicles provided to Ukraine can be used to protect the Bulgarian border and provide assistance to the population in the event of natural disasters and accidents, including in hard-to-reach areas.
“I am guided by the belief that the safety, health and life of Bulgarian citizens should be a top priority,” the Bulgarian president said.
On November 22, the Bulgarian parliament ratified an agreement to supply the Ukrainian Armed Forces with a batch of armored personnel carriers from the Bulgarian police stockpile.
The agreement provided for the free transfer by Bulgaria of about 100 wheeled armored personnel carriers with existing weapons, as well as spare parts from the country’s Ministry of Internal Affairs warehouses.
The Soviet-style armored personnel carriers that were to be transferred to Ukraine were purchased several decades ago and have not been used.
At the same time, the Bulgarian Ministry of Internal Affairs had to spend money on their storage and maintenance.
A preliminary joint conclusion of the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs showed that the transfer of armored vehicles would not harm Bulgaria’s defense capabilities.
