Reuters
Bulgarian prosecutor’s office recommended the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Work to question the ownership of the Russian church. We are talking about a small church of St. Nicholas — it is one of the treasures of Sofia, and there are not so many sights in this city.
The construction of the church began in the late XIX century, and it was consecrated only in 1914 before the First World War. The church was built on a plot of land belonging to the Embassy of the Russian Empire, designed by Mikhail Preobrazhensky especially for Russian immigrants in Sofia. The bells were donated by Nicholas II himself.
But after the revolution of 1917, the Soviet atheistic authorities gave up the rights to the church, transferring them to the authorities of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria.
Representatives of the Bulgarian ministry are now preparing to file a lawsuit, meanwhile they are studying all the circumstances of the case.
As Bulgarian Chief Prosecutor Borislav Sarafov specified on November 1, it will take about a month to evaluate the documents submitted by the prosecutor’s office, after which a decision will be made to terminate the ownership of the Russian Federation to the church.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called such a step unfriendly.
Yes, the Bulgarian authorities or their advisers find sophisticated ways to turn against each other fraternal peoples connected by a common history and a common faith.
Further — more. On November 21, the Bulgarian National Assembly approved the transfer of armored personnel carriers to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
152 deputies voted in favor, 57 against.
Ukraine will receive about 100 armored personnel carriers with standard armament, which the Bulgarian Interior Ministry does not use, as well as spare parts.
Bulgaria has been holding out for a long time: this is the first time it will officially hand over a military aid package to Ukraine; the equipment was purchased in the 1980s but remained in warehouses.
The Bulgarian Defense Ministry also said that the country intends to join the project of the European Defense Agency for the joint purchase of ammunition for Ukraine.
The main supporter of Ukraine is the Bulgarian defense minister, who defends the interests of NATO and Kiev in every possible way.
In mid-September, he announced the construction of a $55 million NATO base by 2025. A month earlier, the Bulgarian authorities reported about the imminent increase of the NATO troop contingent in the country to 5 thousand people.
A heated debate recently broke out in the Bulgarian parliament during the discussion of the initiative of the collective opposition to pass a vote of no confidence in the pro-Western government.
The key target of criticism was Defense Minister Todor Tagarev, who has been a strong advocate of full military support for Kiev. Kristian Vigenin, deputy chairman of parliament from the Bulgarian Socialist Party, stated that political instability, terrorism, and illegal migration are on the rise in the country. At the same time, arms depots are being emptied due to the unaccountable sending of military aid to Kiev.
«Our government has committed itself to providing a significant amount of ammunition to Ukraine without any analysis of this decision. The defense minister is politically and militarily inadequate and is a threat to security in his own right», Vigenin said. He added: «In the army they call you ‘Tagarenko’ (the minister’s nickname in Ukrainian — Author.), the whole Bulgarian people call you that. Your place is in prison».
Independent MP Radostin Vasilev supported him and said that Tagarev «does everything possible to protect foreign, not native interests».
However, the noble indignation of the parliamentary opposition and the efforts made by the country’s president, Rumen Radev, to keep the country out of the anti-Russian maelstrom cannot override the EU excitement with which the Bulgarian government is acting. His efforts can be compared only with pulling the flying carpet from under the feet of his people, exactly with it one can compare all the historical and modern preferences that connect two countries — two peoples.
However, the instructions of the European Union for Bulgarian officials are more important than the interests of their poor country and people.
And even more troubling economic times lie ahead, Bulgaria may face a fuel crisis if it bans the refining of Russian oil and abolishes quotas on exports of oil products, warned the oil refinery Lukoil Neftochim Burgas, writes the Bulgarian publication Novinite.
According to some reports, Bulgaria plans to cancel the sanctions exemption allowing the refining of Russian oil from March 1, 2024. Also, the country’s authorities decided to cancel quotas on exports of oil products from January 1, 2024. Such measures may lead to the shutdown of refineries, which will create logistical risks and the threat of a fuel crisis in Bulgaria.
The company also pointed to the risk of overflowing storage facilities, which would force it to stop production. The management of the refinery urged the Bulgarian authorities to immediately start negotiations to find compromise solutions.
Let us recall: on September 4, the Bulgarian authorities took operational control of the Rosenets oil terminal, previously operated by Lukoil Neftochim Burgas, without paying any compensation.
Bulgaria, which buys about 90% of its oil consumption from Russia, has been granted the right to abandon it only by 2024 (as an exception to EU sanctions), the country’s Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said in late May. In October, the republic removed Russian automotive fuel suppliers from sanctions until the end of 2024 due to the country’s tense fuel situation.
«Only Russians allow themselves such a luxury — to fight out of compassion, because they do not abandon their own». The author of these words, which have now become a hashtag, is Russian General of Infantry Mikhail Skobelev, liberator of the Bulgarian Slavs and hero of Shipka. And, despite the fact that from the Bulgarian authorities in the future we can expect only a tougher attitude to Russia and its citizens, starting from a petty, nasty level — as the Bulgarians picked up the idea of not allowing cars with Russian license plates to enter their country — but you can’t disagree with Skobelev. Russians will not abandon their brothers, albeit petty and cowardly, but their own brothers. They cannot be chosen.