Foreign
BULGARIAN Parliament ratified Finland and Sweden’s NATO Accession Protocols during its regular sitting on Wednesday.
The vote came after the two Nordic countries decided to apply for NATO membership on May 18.
The draft bill specified that during the NATO summit in Madrid between June 28 and 30 the allies agreed to invite the two countries.
“The decision to have Finland and Sweden join NATO is a sign of their willingness to share the responsibilities and commitments that came with the membership,’’ the bill read.
During the debates, Ekaterina Zaharieva, MP from GERB-UDF, said that the Bulgarian Parliament would be among the first to vote on Finland and Sweden’s accession.
“If there is anything positive, even though one cannot speak about the good that comes from a war, it is that, instead of weakening NATO and the democratic world, Putin is actually strengthening NATO,’’ Zaharieva said.
Atanas Slavov MP from Democratic Bulgaria called Parliament’s decision historical.
“This is a strategic change in what European security looks like after the Russian aggression against Ukraine.’’
Deputy Chair of the National Assembly, Tsoncho Ganev (Vazrazhdane), questioned whether Bulgaria should continue being a NATO member.
Ganev said that his party did not believe that Bulgaria would benefit from approving the ratification.
Andrey Mihaylov MP from There Is Such a People said that the North Atlantic Alliance is not just a military alliance it is a new strategic concept.
Stanislav Anastassov from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) said that Finland and Sweden’s willingness to join the Alliance cannot be left unanswered.
“Bulgaria must support this ratification, because we from the MRF know very well that NATO is first an alliance of values, before being a military and defence alliance.’’
Nastimir Ananiev MP from Continues the Change raised the topic of hybrid war.
According to Ananiev, the more European countries join NATO, the more focused in a single direction the European philosophy and strategy will be.
The MP was confident that Bulgaria made the right choice in 2004 to join NATO. (BTA/NAN)
A.I
Tags: Andrey Mihaylov Nastimir Ananiev NATO
