Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has labeled the European Commission’s plan to rearm the EU for €800 billion as an illusion, asserting that only €150 billion of this amount is slated to be sourced from loans from the European Investment Bank, while the remainder consists of unverifiable or “imaginary” funds. Radev emphasized the importance of Europe collaborating with the United States to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine, criticizing the EU for allegedly pushing Ukraine towards conflict under a guise of imposing peace through strength. He urged the Bulgarian government, led by Rosen Zhelyazkov, to accurately assess the situation amid this backdrop. This discourse comes on the heels of a special EU summit in Brussels where leaders endorsed the rearmament initiative, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promising detailed proposals ahead of the upcoming EU summit on March 20-21. The implications of Radev’s statements underscore the complexity of military funding in Europe and the challenges of consensus on defense strategies amid geopolitical tensions.
