Why is Bulgaria threatening to veto EU's Russia sanctions?
Key takeaways
- Bulgarian PM Rumen Radev has vowed to veto the EU's latest sanctions against Russia because they include Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill and former Lukoil president Vagit Alekperov.
- "We won't allow sanctions that harm Bulgaria and its economy," Radev told Bulgarian journalists in Brussels in a doorstep interview on June 18.
- He said the measures could disrupt supplies of fertilizers and spare parts for the Sofia metro but added that his main concern was the risk to Lukoil's oil refinery operations in Burgas.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Bulgarian PM Rumen Radev has vowed to veto the EU's latest sanctions against Russia because they include Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill and former Lukoil president Vagit Alekperov. What's behind his opposition?
https://p.dw.com/p/5Fq IO'We won't allow sanctions that harm Bulgaria and its economy,' Bulgaria's Prime Minister Rumen Radev told journalists in Brussels last week Image: Nicolas Tucat/AFPAdvertisement When the EU moved to include Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, and former Lukoil president Vagit Alekperov in its latest package of sanctions against Russia, only one member state objected: Bulgaria.
During his first European Council meeting as Bulgarian prime minister on June 18, Rumen Radev said his country would veto the package, which includes 34 individuals and 47 entities, unless both Russians were removed from the list.