The Diplomat
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, received yesterday at La Moncloa Palace the President of Bulgaria, Rumen Radev, to whom he expressed “Spain’s support and solidarity” for Russia’s decision to suspend gas supplies to this country and Poland.
“The economic, humanitarian and security and defense consequences of Putin’s war in Ukraine have redoubled the importance of the already excellent Spanish-Bulgarian relations, within the framework of the EU and NATO,” Moncloa said in a press release. “Spain has just completed an air police mission in Bulgaria -with four Eurofighters of the Spanish air force- mandated by the Atlantic Alliance”, it added.
During the meeting, Sanchez has been interested in the effects of the recent decision of Vladimir Putin’s regime to suspend gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland and expressed to Radev the “support and solidarity of Spain” in the face of this “unacceptable blackmail by Russia”, reiterating the words of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
The Russian company Gazprom announced last Wednesday the closure of gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland after both countries refused to pay in rubles. On the other hand, the Hungarian government has complied with this new system designed by Moscow against “hostile” countries.
Precisely, the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Kiril Petkov, yesterday paid a visit to Ukraine in the course of which he assured that his government will not yield to Russia’s pressures and announced that his country has been preparing since last February to put an end to its energy dependence on Moscow through the search for “alternative sources”. “We were not surprised by yesterday’s decision,” Petkov told Bulgarian public television. The prime minister also assured that “the response will be European” and recalled that both Russian authorities and companies are obliged to fulfill energy supply contracts regardless of political considerations.
