Bulgaria is delaying the delivery of 100 armored personnel carriers to the Ukrainian army because Bulgaria’s Ministry of Defense is requesting NATO to cover their transportation costs. Euractiv Bulgaria reports this, citing members of the ruling majority in the country's parliament.
The decision to send the vehicles was made in parliament over three months ago, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Bulgaria and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine signed an agreement for their delivery.
"Bulgaria can help, but it is not happening at the required pace... We cannot transport a hundred APCs from Sofia to Ruse (a city on the Danube in northeastern Bulgaria)", - said one of the deputies.
Defense Minister Todor Targayev explained that the delay occurred because Sofia was checking whether NATO allies could finance the transportation.
"It's not a simple transport operation because it requires deploying a significant number of convoys", - he said.