We need to allocate 2 billion leva additionally if we want to implement the EU defense plan. This was said on the air of the program “Your Day” on NOVA NEWS by former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Milen Keremedchiev.
"It is not bad that the money under the PVP that has not been utilized goes to this Rearmament Fund. And last but not least - it is necessary to increase our own budgets. Here, some analysts mistakenly say that the defense budget should be 1.2%. We are talking about an increase of 1.2 percent. So - for Bulgaria we are talking about about 2 billion leva additional, which must be taken out of the budget if we want to meet the set criteria", he explained.
"The shock from the relations between Washington and Brussels is so strong that all attention is currently focused on them. Europe is completely focused on the need to start defending itself. The situation in the Balkans is very much in the background," Keremedchiev emphasized. He added: "At the moment, there is only talk of money and I really don't know where these funds for the defense budget will come from".
Keremedchiev and the co-chair of the Atlantic Council in Bulgaria Ivan Anchev also discussed the news of the upcoming conversation between Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, during which bilateral relations between Belgrade and Moscow will be discussed - from gas to the Serbian oil industry and politics.
"If there is a conduit for Russian interests in the Balkans, it is only Serbia. It has been like this for centuries. As a country, we have been harmed by these Russian advances through Serbia towards Bulgaria. So there is nothing surprising in such a conversation between Aleksandar Vučić and Vladimir Putin. Vučić himself has been defined as a proxy of the Kremlin in the Balkans. But we as a country must pay close attention to what is happening in Serbia," Anchev emphasized.
In Keremedchiev's words, "Serbia is the fastest militarizing country in the Balkans." "It not only has warm relations with Russia, but also with China. And precisely in the field of defense. But if we broaden our worldview a little, it is expected that there will also be a "Trump Tower" in Belgrade, through Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of the American president. So Vucic is trying to maneuver between the great powers in order to receive external support against the backdrop of his increasingly rapidly declining popularity in his own country," he commented.
Keremedchiev also pointed out the hard line of "Serbization" of North Macedonia that has been noticeable in the last few years. "The path that Skopje is taking is fully shared by the new rulers in the RSM, namely - close relations with Russia, with China, with Hungary", he emphasized. And added: "The same policy that Serbia is pursuing is being pursued. It blinds the eyes of the European Commission that it is taking some kind of European path. And North Macedonia is doing the same. This example is following".
Anchev was categorical that Serbia is a very serious factor in destabilizing the Balkans. "It is possible that something like this could happen. Because regardless of the fanfare that is currently going on worldwide, namely how Trump and Putin will get along - the Russian Federation is facing a very serious potential collapse. It is literally facing an economic catastrophe and at some point it will have to divert the attention of the Russians by igniting a possible conflict in the Balkans. And this is entirely possible to happen in Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina," he explained.