Faced with sanctions against Russia, Rumen Radev’s Bulgaria is fighting back

Nearly two months after his crushing victory in the early elections last April, the new Prime Minister Rumen Radev puts Bulgaria “in the spotlight in Brussels because of its reservations on the new sanctions against Russia†, asserts bTV, the main private television channel in the country.

On Thursday June 18, the head of the Bulgarian government actually arrived in the European capital for a two-day summit bringing together the heads of state and government of the member states in the presence of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky. The main topics are European aid to Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East after the signing of the agreement between the United States and Iran, as well as the multiannual financial framework of the European Union (EU), specifies bTV. And to continue: “Sanctions against Russia are not officially on the agenda of the meeting, but interest in our country has increased since the announcement that Bulgaria opposes part of the latest package of measures proposed by Brussels.†.

First in Sofia, shortly before his departure, then in Brussels before the opening of the summit, Rumen Radev confirmed what his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Velislava Petrova-Chamova, had already put forward a few days earlier, namely that Bulgaria did not agree with certain measures planned in the 21^e package of sanctions that member states must adopt in July.

“The time of the crusades is over…

These are certain economic sanctions, and especially those planned against the Patriarch of Russia, Kirill, known to be a fervent support of the war. On Thursday, the Prime Minister even affirmed that if these are maintained, Bulgaria will veto them, because “the time of the crusades is over†. Quite irritated by the questions from the press, according to the online daily Sega, Rumen Radev also explained that “The Russian Orthodox Church contributed to the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman yoke†. “It is not the Russian Patriarch that interests me, but the millions of faithful Russians†, he continued, wondering if these sanctions would contribute to the end of the war. The Prime Minister also considered that the Orthodox Churches, including that of Bulgaria, were part of “from the same family†.

Regularly described as “pro-Russian†or even the “new Orban†during his electoral campaign, Aviation General Rumen Radev has always been keen to reassure about his European commitments. But these latest comments made the country’s pro-Europeans jump. He resumes “word for word the rhetoric of Russian propaganda†, immediately noted Vladimir Iontchev, the editor-in-chief of the online daily Off News, known for his highly engaged coverage of the war in Ukraine.

“As if Europe was leading a crusade against Orthodox Christianity!†he continues in a fiery editorial, calling on his readers to rebel against this “virage geopolitique†from Bulgaria. “Radev is no longer a hypothetical danger or a potential threat. He is a real agent of influence of the Kremlin, acting against the interests of Bulgaria, seeking to force us out of the EU and bring us back into the orbit of Russia, the Soviet Union, the ‘Russian world’, or whatever the name we give to the current incarnation of this evil empire… , he concludes.