Bulgaria ends military and financial aid to Ukraine, PM says

Bulgaria will no longer hand over weapons and ammunition from its army stocks to Ukraine and will not take part in new EU financing for Kyiv. Prime Minister Radev said this, as reported by the Meža portal.

Stocks exhausted. According to Radev, Bulgaria has sent Ukraine 13 packages of military aid since the start of the Russian invasion. “We have exhausted our capabilities,” the prime minister stressed.

Sofia will also not take part in the new round of European funding for Ukraine, including the planned package of €70 billion (about 1.7 trillion crowns), and will not join the so-called “Coalition of the Willing.” The reason, according to Radev, is budgetary constraints.

Budget deficit and diplomacy

The European Commission has opened a procedure against Bulgaria over its excessive budget deficit. As a eurozone member, the country must, according to the prime minister, bring its deficit below three percent of GDP, as required by the Maastricht criteria, by 2029 at the latest.

Radev stressed that the government believes the conflict cannot be resolved on the battlefield, only through diplomacy. Back in October 2026, Sofia decided that through the European Peace Facility (EPF) it would fund only non-lethal aid.

At the same time, Bulgaria will not prevent other EU countries from continuing financial support for Ukraine, and the Bulgarian defense industry has not been given any restrictions on commercial arms exports to Ukraine. The country will continue to help its neighbor with electricity supplies, free assistance to Ukrainian refugees and the restoration of energy and railway infrastructure.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz