Bulgarian President Radev vetoed the free provision of armoured personnel vehicles (APV) to Ukraine, citing the fact that "deputies were not sufficiently informed about the specific conditions of the transfer."
Why did Bulgaria promise to provide Ukraine with 100 APVs
According to reports, the President of Bulgaria, Rumen Radev, returned for a new discussion in the parliament on the law on the ratification of the agreement, according to which Bulgaria provides armoured vehicles to Ukraine free of charge.
In the reasons for the veto, it was noted that the people's representatives were not sufficiently familiar with the specific parameters of the supply, making it impossible to assess the need for the provided equipment objectively.
Radev emphasized that the APVs of high cross-country ability provided to Ukraine can be explicitly used to protect the Bulgarian border and assist the population in disasters and accidents, including in hard-to-reach areas.
I am guided by the conviction that the safety, health and life of Bulgarian citizens should be a priority, the President of Bulgaria said.
What preceded it
On November 22, the National Assembly of Bulgaria ratified the intergovernmental agreement between Sofia and Kyiv, which regulates the transfer of 100 decommissioned armoured personnel vehicles of the Bulgarian Ministry of Internal Affairs to Ukraine.
The agreement was concluded in July this year. It was signed in Sofia in August and on November 13 in Ukraine. Since it concerns military-technical cooperation, it had to be additionally ratified by the Bulgarian parliament.
As previously reported, APVs have been in the warehouse of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Bulgaria since the 1980s. This is the first time the Bulgarian side would transfer armoured vehicles to Kyiv directly and not through intermediaries, as before.
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