Does Bulgaria plan to send Bulgarian soldiers to fight in Ukraine against Russia? No, that's not true: Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov, Defense Minister Todor Tagarev, and his predecessor Dimitar Stoyanov deny such a possibility. The press center of the Ministry of Defense also refuted this claim.
The claim appeared in a TikTok video (archived here) published on June 15, 2023, sharing a Bulgaria OnAir website article from June 14, 2023, with the title "The Council of Ministers decided: Bulgarian soldiers on a European mission to help Ukraine." The article had been removed but the text has been circulating on social media. It opened:
The Council of Ministers decided to implement the Decision of the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria to provide military and technical support to Ukraine. It authorizes the participation of military personnel from the Armed Forces of the Republic of Bulgaria in the EU Military Assistance Mission in Ukraine (EUMAM) for the duration of the mission.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Fri Jun 23 19:37:49 2023 UTC)
The Decision of the National Assembly in question is from March 15, 2023, which is determining the military formations and structures to supplement the Bulgarian armed forces in wartime and the number of military reserves. The document does not include information about sending Bulgarian soldiers to Ukraine.
On June 7, 2023, suprotiva.eu shared an article with the title "Breaking news! The Cabinet Denkov began preparing troops for Ukraine! In August we are going to war with Russia!" It opened:
An order has been issued to send manpower to Ukraine and two ships! This will lead to a war with Russia! Share to inform the people.
This is what the post looked like on suprotiva.eu at the time of writing:
(Source: suprotiva.eu screenshot taken on Fri Jun 23 19:37:49 2023 UTC)
In a written response to the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) from June 11, 2023, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov said the following:
I can categorically state that sending troops to Ukraine has never been discussed. As long as I am the Prime Minister, there will be no such discussion. These are deliberately spread lies to scare people and turn them against the regular government. ... This is a lie that has no foundation. Both, the previous caretaker government and the current one, have never planned to send troops. This is a lie that was repeated by Ms. Mitrofanova.
A day later, in the "12+3" BNR radio show, the Minister of Defense Todor Tagarev also refuted the claim:
My call is for the media to stop spreading this propaganda disinformation. There is no discussion, no plans and preparations, and there will be no sending of Bulgarian troops into the war in Ukraine. The Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov said so, I also confirm that. These claims are spread solely and only in the interest of the Kremlin by Russian sources and, unfortunately, also by Bulgarian sources. This is an element of the hybrid war against Bulgaria.
In May 2023, the Acting Minister of Defense, Dimitar Stoyanov, refuted the same claim here.
The press center told BNR that the Minister of Defense Todor Tagarev has already issued an official statement regarding the false claim of sending Bulgarian troops to Ukraine and emphasized that this is all that can be said on the matter. The press center cited the Law on Defense and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Bulgaria, according to which general or partial mobilization can only be announced by the President of the Republic of Bulgaria. On the occasion of the decision of the Council of Ministers No. 166 of March 15, 2023, the Ministry of Defense also emphasized that "nowhere in the decision it is pointed out that Bulgarian soldiers will be sent to Ukraine".
The Ministry of Defense's press center informed BNR that Minister of Defense Todor Tagarev has officially addressed the false claim about Bulgarian troops being deployed to Ukraine. It was emphasized that this statement provides all the necessary information on the matter. The press center referred to the Law on Defense and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Bulgaria, which states that the President of Bulgaria is the sole authority to declare general or partial mobilization. Furthermore, in relation to the Council of Ministers' Decision No. 166, dated March 15, 2023, the Ministry of Defense clarified that the decision does not mention any deployment of Bulgarian soldiers to Ukraine.
Lead Stories has fact-checked other controversial claims related to the 2022 Russian-Ukrainian conflict here.
