Zelensky clashes with Radev in Sofia meeting
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky is in Bulgaria today, paying an official visit to the prime minister and the president of Bulgaria, Nickolay Denkov and Rumen Radev respectively.
The Ukrainian leader held a meeting first with the prime minister and his rotational second Maria Gabriel. Later on the Ukrainian president visited the Bulgarian presidency where he held an official meeting with Radev and his team.
The presidency meeting was surprisingly tense with Zelensky calling out Radev's opposition to sending military help to Ukraine and his unfavorable positions in the past towards Kyiv. The meeting continued behind closed doors with one of the main subjects being energy cooperation and the sale of Belene nuclear equipment to Ukraine.
Unofficially, Zelensky will try to to use his visit to boost Bulgarian military aid help to his beleaguered country.
Referendum on Eurozone still uncertain
It is still unclear whether the anti-Eurozone referendum, organized by the Vazrazhdane political party, will take place. It is much more likely that the debate on whether Bulgaria's accession to the Eurozone would be delayed until 2043 will go to the Constitutional Court. It will rule on if the necessary signatures collected for its implementation contradicts the basic law.
In case parliament votes in favor, which is unlikely, the president will also have to intervene.
On Wednesday, the legal commission in the parliament rejected the proposal for the referendum, arguing that it contradicts the Treaty on the European Union signed by Bulgaria.
Parliament votes in favor of the the Belene proposal
Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov has confirmed, in an answer to a question on the Facebook page of the Council of Ministers that at the beginning of the year, Ukraine showed interest in the equipment for the Belene NPP, which Bulgaria acquired for about BGN 1.2 billion. in 2016. However, the previous caretaker government of President Radev did not want to make a deal.
In the meantime the parliament approved the proposal of the ruling majority to oblige the Minister of Energy Rumen Radev to start negotiations with Ukraine for the sale of the equipment for the Belene NPP. The decision was adopted with 155 votes in favor, with only BSP and Vazrazhdane against.
Zelensky clashes with Radev in Sofia meeting
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky is in Bulgaria today, paying an official visit to the prime minister and the president of Bulgaria, Nickolay Denkov and Rumen Radev respectively.
