Deputy PM Hristov: Russian drones 'logical' – official stance after investigation
Bulgaria's deputy prime minister wants to keep the budget deficit within 3 percent. Pensions are to rise by 8 percent and public sector pay by 5 percent.
Symbolic image · Photo: Radosław Botev / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 pl (cropped and resized)
Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Ivo Hristov told broadcaster BNT's morning programme that the government will try to keep the budget deficit within 3 percent. He said he does not favour strict fiscal rules and that parliament still has to debate the plan. Under the draft budget, pensions are to rise by 8 percent and public sector salaries by 5 percent. Hristov stressed that the focus should be on compensating those hit hardest rather than across-the-board increases.
On the attacks on ships in the Black Sea, he said it was "logical" that the drones were Russian, given the vessels that had been hit. An official position should only come after the investigation is complete, however. Hristov questioned whether invoking Articles 4 and 5 of the NATO treaty would serve Bulgarian and European interests, saying all NATO members fear such a step.
Even an end to the attacks would not solve the problems at once, the deputy prime minister warned: mine clearance will take years and insurance risk is deterring shipping. "There is no one who will come and demine on our behalf," he said. Hristov spoke out against arming Ukraine and against Bulgaria's involvement in foreign geopolitical conflicts.