Bulgaria wants to help Ukraine with artillery shells as part of EU joint procurement plan

Todor Tagarev, Bulgaria's newly appointed Defence Minister, said that his country seeks to join the European Union's initiative to provide Ukraine with one million artillery shells in 12 months. Source: European Pravda, citing Tagarev's interview with Politico. Details: Bulgaria has become one of only two EU countries, apart from neutral Ireland, that have not joined the joint procurement of ammunition for Ukraine through the European Defence Agency, and the head of the country's Defence Ministry says that he wants to reconsider this decision.

Quote: "We are very clearly aiming at joining this coalition. I think we will be able to provide some of the required ammunition for Ukraine. There's been no political decision, but we will certainly put in the effort and I believe that we will find a way," Tagarev said.

According to him, the advantage of the country is that, since Soviet times, "traditionally, Bulgaria has specialized in small arms, light weapons and ammunition" production.

At the same time, when it comes to equipment, such as MiG-29 fighter jets or tanks, the situation is more complicated, the minister added, since there are not enough of them in Bulgaria and the equipment is mostly outdated. In March, the Bulgarian authorities ruled out any possibility of the country's participation in the EU plan for the procurement of ammunition. Despite long-term political instability, Bulgaria is one of the largest manufacturers of Soviet-style weapons in the EU; it could have secretly provided Ukraine with up to a third of all ammunition that it needed at the beginning of a full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation.

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Background: According to media reports, most EU countries are in favour of excluding a number of provisions from the plan proposed by the European Commission to increase the production of ammunition.

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