'Bulgaria doesn't belong there' — Ukraine-skeptic PM Radev quits the Coalition of the Willing
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Bulgaria declined to take part in the latest Coalition of the Willing meeting due to the group's financial and military support for Ukraine, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said, as reported by Radio Bulgaria on July 14.
Radev, a longtime critic of military aid to Kyiv, said his country does not provide defense assistance to Ukraine because such support only "prolongs the conflict" and urged a diplomatic solution instead.
The announcement underscores Sofia's foreign policy pivot after Radev, a Russian-friendly ex-president, won the parliamentary elections in April.
The Bulgarian leader took part in the official reception hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, but was notably absent from the July 13 summit of the Coalition of the Willing, despite Bulgaria having previously attended the group's meetings.
The U.K.- and French-led coalition of over 30 nations has committed to providing Kyiv with military support amid Russian aggression and post-war security guarantees.
"I personally received an invitation from President Macron to participate in the 'Coalition of the Willing', but I think that Bulgaria does not belong there, because we do not participate in a coalition that insists on continued financial and military assistance to Ukraine," Radev said.
Bulgaria's new government announced back in June that it would not send any further military aid to Ukraine, though Kyiv said that mutually beneficial defense cooperation would continue on a commercial basis.
Sofia also recently broke with Europe when it successfully pushed to remove Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, from the EU's 21st sanctions package.
