Bulgaria threatened not to support a new package of European Union sanctions against Russia, if there is no exception for it in the proposed ban on the purchase of Russian oil. This was stated by the Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria Asen Vasilev late on Sunday evening, reports Euraactiv.
On Sunday, the Government of the European Union approached the coordination of strict sanctions against Russia in connection with its invasion of Ukraine, but on Monday they planned additional negotiations to find out how to ensure that the countries that are most dependent on Russian energy could cope with the situation.
“Negotiations will continue tomorrow, on Tuesday, also a meeting of the leaders may be completed. Our position is very clear. If there is an exception for some countries, we also want to get it,” Vasiliev said to the national BNT television channel.
“If not, we will not support the sanctions. But I do not expect that it will come from current negotiations,” he said.
Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republic, which do not have access to the sea and strongly dependent on Russian oil supplied through Soviet -time pipelines, faced the problem of ensuring alternative sources and ask for the abolition of an oil embargo for them. Bulgaria also requires to make an exception for her.
On Friday, the European Commission proposed amending the originally planned embargo to Russian oil to give three countries more time to change their energy supplies, while no concessions were proposed, EU sources said.
Bulgaria wants a two -year delay before joining the EU and prohibiting the import of Russian oil.
According to the Bulgarian authorities, despite the request for the exclusion from the general oil embargo, the country was not proposed by any concessions, and there is no official answer from the European Commission.