Overview
- Bulgarian Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov announced on Tuesday that Sofia will no longer send weapons from state stocks to Ukraine, saying the conflict must be resolved at the negotiating table.
- The move reflects the stance of the new government formed after Rumen Radev’s April election win, which has long opposed sending arms to Kyiv and favors diplomatic talks with Moscow.
- At the same announcement the government outlined plans to raise defence spending toward NATO’s 5 percent of GDP target, a pledge Radev has previously endorsed.
- The policy reversal sits uneasily with a March 10-year security cooperation deal with Ukraine that covers joint defence production, intelligence sharing and an energy corridor, and follows years in which Bulgaria supplied 13 aid packages and sold Soviet-era materiel through European intermediaries.
- Bulgaria’s reliance on EU funding and its strategic Black Sea position mean the move could strain ties with Brussels and NATO, there was no immediate public response from Kyiv, and domestic political divisions are likely to shape how the policy is implemented.