Bulgaria will no longer participate in a new financial aid package from the European Union for Ukraine, requested by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, announced on Tuesday Prime Minister Rumen Radev, reports dpa.
At the summit of the European Council in Brussels, President Zelenski requested an additional 70 billion euros from the community bloc for next year, in order to support the defense against the Russian invasion. Radev made these statements to journalists in the small Bulgarian town of Tvărdiţa.
“How does this seem to you, considering everything that’s happening in Europe? Bulgaria cannot be involved in any way in this sum of 70 billion euros“, said Radev, quoted by the Bulgarian news agency BTA and Agerpres.
Radev reminded that the EU approved last year a financial aid package of 90 billion euros for Ukraine, covering the period 2026-2027. Three EU member states – Hungary, Czech Republic, and Slovakia -, negotiated not to contribute to the costs of this loan. Bulgaria, on the other hand, participated.
Radev has called for an end to the war in Ukraine and stated that it is draining the economies of European countries and leading to social tensions and political instability.
“The end (of the war) will not be achieved through military means,” declared the Bulgarian Prime Minister, who also held the position of the country’s president from 2017 until his resignation in January 2026.