The debacle that is scuppering the signing of a security cooperation agreement between Bulgaria and Ukraine continued on December 19, with caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev continuing to insist that he would sign it only with the consent of Parliament, but with a vote not being put on Parliament’s Order Paper.
The agreement commits Bulgaria to a 10-year obligation to provide military aid and training for Ukraine, as well as support for Ukrainian refugees.
Later on December 19, Glavchev confirmed to reporters that he would not be signing the agreement and was leaving doing so to the head of an elected government.
Earlier this week, the Bulgarian government had said that the agreement would be signed on December 19 by Glavchev and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy while a European Council meeting, which has Russia’s war on Ukraine on the agenda of its two-day meeting in Brussels, was proceeding.
But Glavchev, soon before the scheduled signing, wrote to parliamentary groups asking for Parliament to consent to the signing.
As The Sofia Globe reported on December 18, most parliamentary groups – including the largest, Boiko Borissov’s centre-right GERB-UDF coalition, as well as pro-Russian parties – were opposed. This made it seem that even were a vote to be put in Parliament, it would be defeated.
GERB-UDF’s objection was stated as being that such an agreement should be signed only by an elected government, not a caretaker one. It was also clear that GERB-UDF was worried that the signing would upset the applecart in its negotiations on getting a government elected, negotiations that involve parties opposed to support for Ukraine.
Glavchev told reporters in Brussels that he would sign the agreement only after a decision by Parliament, but if MPs did not support the signing, he would postpone it “until better times”.
“This item should be included in the agenda of the National Assembly, for them to do their job, to say what they think about this agreement,” Glavchev said.
“There are no concerns about the substantive part of the agreement, it is in line with the other decisions of the National Assembly,” he said.
“If it does not enter the National Assembly, I will not sign the agreement.
“But there is still a chance until the end of the day. I will talk to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to show understanding, to wait for the decision of the National Assembly and then proceed to signing the agreement, or postpone it until better times,” he said.
A Bulgarian government media statement on December 19 quoted Glavchev as saying “the European Union must demonstrate unity on the issue with Ukraine and the Bulgarian position remains unchanged”.
In Parliament on December 19, responding to a request by Delyan Peevski’s Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning group to insert a vote on the agreement on the day’s Order Paper, Speaker Natalia Kiselova refused.
The group of Peevski, who is sanctioned by the US and UK over corruption, was one of only two to back the signing, the other being the pro-Western reformist We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria coalition.
Kiselova, who is an Associate Professor of constitutional law, based her refusal on the fact that the agreement was within the competence of the government.
She noted that according to a caretaker cabinet decision of November 4 2024, the draft agreement on security cooperation with Ukraine was approved as the basis for negotiations.
The decision authorised the foreign minister to conduct negotiations, the prime minister was authorised to sign the agreement, and the Foreign Ministry was authorised to undertake the necessary actions to implement the decision.
The conclusion of an agreement is within the competence of the government according to the constitution as the body leading and implementing foreign policy, and since there is an explicit decision of the government, the Prime Minister must comply with it, and not seek support and transfer responsibility to the National Assembly, Kiselova said.
Borissov told reporters on December 19: “The agreement with Ukraine is like buying a factory on September 9″.
He was referring to September 9 1944, the Soviet invasion of Bulgaria that was followed by a communist takeover and the state confiscation of private property.
“I have always maintained that caretaker governments are for holding elections. And I am against them signing long-term treaties,” Borissov said.
“The most correct thing is, when there is a regular government, to assess it and then sign it,” he said.
Borissov said that the political situation is fundamentally different at the moment.
“Six months ago (when Nikolai Denkov’s pro-Western government was in office, having been put in place with the support of GERB-UDF) we would have categorically supported such a treaty, but now, when both Europe and the US, especially the statements of Trump and his people regarding the peace process, it’s a bit like buying a factory on September 9,” Borissov said.
“We will work with Ukraine, we will participate in the reconstruction, we have done a lot for them and a regular government will sign a treaty that is mutually beneficial for both sides”.
Denkov, who co-leads the WCC-DB parliamentary group, said that he suspected that the caretaker Prime Minister would cause a “small diplomatic scandal” in Brussels.
Denkov reproached Glavchev that it was not good to first announce a signing procedure and then withdraw it.
Peevski said that “whoever does not sign the agreement is a servant of Moscow.”
