Bulgaria’s parliament supports Ukraine’s accession to NATO

Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk posted this on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.

"The Parliament of Bulgaria adopted the Declaration in support of Ukraine's membership in NATO. Congratulations on this decision! Thank you for this decision!" the speaker wrote.

According to him, the document states that the National Assembly of Bulgaria expects the government, in particular at the upcoming summit of the Alliance in Vilnius, to express a position in support of Ukraine's membership in NATO after peace is restored in the country.  

Stefanchuk noted that the Bulgarian parliament supports the launching of the planning process and the adoption of specific parameters and a time frame for Ukraine's membership in the Alliance, and expansion of strategic relations.

Parliamentarians of Bulgaria also call on allies to use the Vilnius summit to outline clear parameters  on the path to Ukraine’s NATO membership, added the Verkhovna Rada Chairman.

According to The Sofia Globe, Bulgaria’s National Assembly voted by a large majority on July 6 to approve a declaration that includes a call to the government, at the July NATO Summit in Vilnius, to express support for Ukraine joining NATO after peace is restored in the country.

Of the 214 MPs who voted, 157 – from GERB-UDF, We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, and ITN – were in favour. There were 57 votes against, from Vuzrazhdane and the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).

The declaration expresses full support for NATO’s Open Doors policy, independent of external factors, and calls for NATO Allies to outline clear parameters on the path to Ukraine’s NATO membership.

The Bulgarian Parliament’s declaration says that the fastest track to the restoration of peace in Ukraine, the Black Sea region and Europe is Russia’s full and immediate withdrawal beyond the internationally recognised borders of the affected sovereign states.

The National Assembly calls for an end to nuclear blackmail, as well as to all actions by Russia, which are in sharp contradiction to the United Nations Charter and which represent the most serious blow to the peace and prosperity of both the European and Russian peoples.

The declaration expresses support for Zelensky’s Peace Formula, the goal of which is a lasting and just peace.

In order to guarantee Ukraine’s ability to defend itself from the aggressor on its territory, the National Assembly insists that the institutions in Bulgaria continue to provide Ukraine with political, financial, humanitarian, military, military-technical support, until the full restoration of its sovereignty within the internationally recognised borders, the document says.

The vote coincided with a one-day visit by President Volodymyr Zelensky to Sofia.

As reported by Ukrinform, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in the capital of Bulgaria, Sofia, on an official visit. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria Nikolai Denkov signed the Declaration on the Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine.

The NATO summit will be held in Vilnius on July 11-12. Ukraine wants to receive clear security guarantees and a clear prospect of membership in the Alliance.