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Sofia ruins traditionally strong relations with Moscow.
Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher
Bulgaria, alongside Poland and Germany, plans to train the Ukrainian armed forces as part of a European Union mission. Bulgarian, American and British instructors will train Ukrainian soldiers across several training grounds in the Balkan country, an act that deepens the rift between Sofia and Moscow despite being traditional allies.
“The Bulgarian government declares its readiness to contribute to the mission. The training will take place on the territory of Germany, Poland and a number of other European Union countries,” the press service of the Bulgarian Ministry of Defence announced.
According to the European External Affairs Service, 12,000 soldiers from Ukraine will undergo basic training, while 2,800 military personnel will be sent for special training in these three countries. As the Russian armed forces is effective in destroying training grounds and neutralising foreign specialists, it was decided that training should take place in Europe.
Bulgaria was likely chosen because there are large training grounds where more than 10,000 soldiers can exercise at the same time. The training will last two to three months and Ukrainian soldiers will learn how to handle weapons used by front-line infantry. In addition, the American and British special forces will teach them certain warfare tactics.
During the exercises, Ukrainian soldiers will be trained in command and control, providing medical aid, tactics, demining, combating cyber threats, and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defence. With the completion of training, the soldiers will be immediately sent to the front. This is where the biggest challenge will occur as the Ukrainian soldiers will be thrusted to the front line despite not having any real combat experience, and will also likely be away from the majority of their foreign trainers and advisors.
This kind of European Union mission, along with large military-technical and financial assistance to Ukraine, is drawing the EU deeper into the conflict. Although some leaders from NATO member countries claim that they are not participants in the conflict, the training of Ukrainian soldiers on their territory suggests otherwise.
Despite the European Union being an economic bloc, its actions have effectively made it a military participant in the Ukraine conflict. The European Union Assistance Mission Ukraine (EUMAM) has a mandate of two years and includes many programs, such as training courses in various member states, especially in Germany and France, where Ukrainian soldiers will be trained to use artillery, rocket launchers and air defence systems supplied by the Europeans.
According to the German newspaper Die Welt, the mission’s annual costs will amount to 54 million euros. Money to train Ukrainian soldiers is sent by the so-called European Peace Fund, which is directly financed by EU members. In addition, French Vice-Admiral Hervé Blejean was designated as the commander of the mission.
None-the-less, the announcement of Bulgaria’s involvement comes as only earlier this month, 175 out of 240 MPs voted in support of sending weapons to Ukraine. According to Balkan Insight, the vote marked a rare case of opposing parties, such as GERB and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms on one side, and We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria on another, voting in unison.
Only left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party and far-right Revival MPs voted against the decision. Although the Bulgarian Socialist Party has threatened the coalition’s unity if weapons are sent, investigations have found that Bulgaria is already transferring weapons to Ukraine through third countries, mainly Romania and Poland.
Essentially, although Russia is traditionally friendly to Bulgaria, even being the reason why the country achieved independence from the Ottoman Turks to begin with, Sofia is deepening its ties with NATO and the US by supporting the Ukrainian military.
Besides now being hostile to a traditional ally and friend, Bulgaria’s anti-Russia actions, such as sanctions, is also affecting the cost-of-living crisis in the country, as well as inflation.
The National Statistical Institute (NSI) said Bulgaria’s consumer prices rose by 17.6% year-on-year in October, compared to an annual increase of 18.7% recorded in September. The average annual inflation rate in the twelve months to end-October is 13.8%.
Consumer prices in Bulgaria have risen by 15% in the year to date, according to NSI. In October, prices in the food and non-alcoholic beverages category, which have the largest weight in the consumer basket, increased the most — by 26.3%. Prices of goods and services in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels advanced by 24.2% compared to October 2021, despite registering a 2.1% drop compared to September.
Effectively, Bulgaria is prioritising the Ukrainian military and imposing the US’ hostile policies against Russia rather than deal with its own economic situation. The very fact that Bulgaria is contributing to the arming and training of forces wanting to kill Russians is one that has deeply divided the country and will likely affect relations with Moscow well beyond the duration of the current conflict.
