Bulgaria equips coast guard with missiles to deal with Russian threat
Bulgaria has started equipping its coast guard with missiles so that ‘no one dares to approach the Black Sea cities’ of the country, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov announced on Thursday while answering citizens’ questions on Facebook.
Denkov added that the state must develop its naval forces to be sufficiently prepared to defend the country.
“At the moment, we do not see a direct threat to Bulgarian ports, but force is answered with force. That’s why we started buying missiles for the Coast Guard so that no one dares to approach our Black Sea cities,” Denkov added.
In this context, he recalled the attack of the Russian Empire against Varna in 1915.
“A signal has been sent to NATO that Russia is trying to make the Black Sea a Russian lake, the only way to resist is to respond to force with force. Many, many years ago, Varna was shelled by Russia along the Black Sea. We should not allow it,” Denkov said.
The artillery attack by the Russian fleet against the largest Bulgarian Black Sea city happened on 14 October 1915, when the people of Varna were in the streets to celebrate one of the Christian holidays: Petkovden. Only civilian objects were fired upon, killing nine people and injuring 38. On 13 December 1916, during another holiday (Andreev’s Day), Balchik was also shelled.
“Russian politicians have repeatedly said that after Ukraine, the Baltic republics and Moldova follow. It’s high time for the Bulgarian citizens to open their eyes that there is an aggressor who wants to take back the imperial influence,” Denkov said.
The Bulgarian Navy currently has three frigates, a guard ship, three corvettes and numerous minesweepers.
In 2025 and 2026, the Bulgarian Navy will receive two new patrol ships, Brave and Courageous, currently being built at the Bulgarian shipyard MTG ‘Dolphin’. Intentions to purchase two used submarines from partner countries in NATO are also being shared publicly, but, for now, there is no clarity on this issue.
On 22 August, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Denkov that Russia’s aggressive behaviour in the Black Sea raises the question of coherent efforts by NATO members bordering the strategic sea.
Earlier, Bulgarian Defence Minister Todor Tagarev announced that the possibility of a naval conflict breaking out in the Black Sea could not be ruled out because of Russia’s aggressive behaviour.
The Kremlin uses ships from its navy to prevent grain exports from Ukraine. In August, a Russian warship fired a warning to stop a Palau-flagged dry cargo ship in the Black Sea.
(Krassen Nikolov | EURACTIV.bg)
