NATO: Bulgaria and Romania deem Russia's requests "unacceptable"
Bulgarian President Roumen Radev on January 21, 2022 deemed Moscow's statements on a withdrawal of NATO troops from his country "unacceptable".
Illustrative photo taken on November 13, 2016 in Sofia.
Reuters/Stoyan Nenov
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Bulgaria and Romania found themselves this Friday, January 21 on the front of the international scene.
The two countries joined NATO in 2004. While the Russian and American foreign ministers met in Geneva, Russia demanded the withdrawal of NATO troops from these former satellite countries of the USSR.
Sofia called on Russia to lower tensions in Ukraine.
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With our correspondent in Sofia
,
Damian Vodenitcharov
“
Bulgaria is a sovereign country and we made our choice a long time ago when the country joined NATO
”.
This is how Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov reacted to demands for the withdrawal of Alliance troops.
For his part, Bulgarian President Roumen Radev judged that "
Russia's insistence (...) is unacceptable and absurd
".
"Our country does not accept an ultimatum from anyone."
►Also read: A “reasonable dialogue” necessary on the Ukrainian crisis according to Sergei Lavrov
In terms of foreign policy, Bulgaria must nevertheless manage its ties with the West and Russia, on which it is highly dependent for energy imports.
The new Prime Minister has also displayed his pro-Western and above all pro-NATO orientation.
His Defense Minister Stefan Yanev, however, adopted a more conciliatory tone vis-à-vis Russia.
Pro-Russian and pro-NATO public opinion
President Roumen Radev has already called for the lifting of sanctions against Russia.
During an election debate in November, he even claimed that “
Crimea is none other than Russian
”.
Bulgarian public opinion remains strongly pro-Russian, but also pro-European and pro-NATO.
Romania also deemed on Friday "
unacceptable
" Russia's request for the withdrawal of foreign NATO troops present on their soil, as part of a treaty that Moscow is demanding for a de-escalation of the Ukrainian crisis.
“
Such a demand is unacceptable and cannot be part of the subjects of negotiation
”, reacted the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release.
NATO rejects Russian requests to withdraw from Romania and Bulgaria
For its part, NATO rejected this Friday, January 21, Russia's request for the withdrawal of foreign troops from the Alliance present in Bulgaria and Romania and denounced the idea of spheres of influence in Europe, declared his spokesperson.
“
NATO remains vigilant and continues to assess the need to strengthen the eastern part of our Alliance,
” warned Oana Lungescu.
“
Russia's demands would create first and second class NATO members, which we cannot accept,
” she explained.
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