Bulgarian army struggling to shake off fake news wave about being sent to Ukraine

3 months ago 11

The Bulgarian army is struggling to shake off the pre-election wave of disinformation that soldiers are about to be sent to fight in Ukraine, despite pro-Russian far-right political forces and President Rumen Radev continuing to say this is in the works.

On Wednesday, the Bulgarian Defence Ministry once again rejected speculations about sending soldiers to Ukraine, pointing out that only the National Assembly can decide whether Bulgarian troops should participate in operations abroad.

“Such a proposal has never been on the agenda,” the ministry said.

Bulgaria will participate in the EU training mission in support of Ukraine, which will take place on the territory of Germany, Poland, and other member states.

“Within the framework of this mission, training of combat medics – 60 medical personnel for one year – is also envisaged in Bulgaria,” the Bulgarian military said.

The Defence Ministry made the comments after President Rumen Radev on Monday said NATO partners are crossing “red lines that restrained the (Ukraine) war from unchecked escalation” and warned of “nuclear armageddon”.

“I have never categorically stated that Bulgaria has made a decision to send troops to Ukraine. Our self-proclaimed Euro-Atlanticists are cowardly and incapable of such a decision on their own and know that they will be ostracised and kicked out of society. If left to their own will, they would gladly send all Bulgarians to fight in Ukraine to cover up their false Euro-Atlantic facade,” the Bulgarian president said.

Radev’s talk about “sending Bulgarian soldiers to Ukraine is (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s narrative” said Bulgaria’s Military Minister Atanas Zapryanov.

The pro-Russian far-right party Vazrazhdane, which has a chance of becoming the second political force in the country and is part of the far-right ID group in the EU Parliament, is using similar rhetoric to Radev. It is threatening to leave the group over the expulsion of Alternative for Germany (AfD).

On Wednesday, the Defence Ministry commented, “The powerful disinformation and propaganda campaign that Bulgaria will send soldiers to fight at the front could sharply reduce the number of those willing to join the army. This only exacerbates the personnel problem in the Bulgarian army that the government has been struggling with for the past two decades”.

(Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg)