Bulgarian Defense Minister Sacked over Ukraine Rhetoric

Bulgaria's Defense Minister Stefan Yanev and Spain's Defence Minister Margarita Robles inspect the joint air police activities carried by Bulgarian and Spanish pilots and jets at Graf Ignatievo Air Base, Bulgaria, February 21, 2022. (Reuters)
Bulgaria's Defense Minister Stefan Yanev and Spain's Defence Minister Margarita Robles inspect the joint air police activities carried by Bulgarian and Spanish pilots and jets at Graf Ignatievo Air Base, Bulgaria, February 21, 2022. (Reuters)
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Bulgarian Defense Minister Sacked over Ukraine Rhetoric

Bulgaria's Defense Minister Stefan Yanev and Spain's Defence Minister Margarita Robles inspect the joint air police activities carried by Bulgarian and Spanish pilots and jets at Graf Ignatievo Air Base, Bulgaria, February 21, 2022. (Reuters)
Bulgaria's Defense Minister Stefan Yanev and Spain's Defence Minister Margarita Robles inspect the joint air police activities carried by Bulgarian and Spanish pilots and jets at Graf Ignatievo Air Base, Bulgaria, February 21, 2022. (Reuters)

Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov on Monday fired Defense Minister Stefan Yanev for his reluctance to describe the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a war, reiterating that Sofia would speak in one voice with the European Union.

Petkov said his centrist coalition government would ask parliament on Tuesday to approve Yanev's dismissal and appoint Todor Tagarev, who was a caretaker defense minister in 2013, to the post.

"My defense minister cannot use the word operation instead of the word war. You cannot call it an operation when thousands of soldiers from the one and the other side are already killed," Petkov said in a televised statement.

"The Bulgarian interest is not in bending our heads down...When we see something we do not agree with, something so obvious, we cannot keep quiet," Petkov said.

Bulgaria is a member of the EU and NATO but many in the Balkan country - which was the closest Communist satellite of the Soviet Union during the Cold War era - feel a strong cultural and historical affinity with Russia.

Some fear that taking a very strong stance against the Russian invasion could hurt Bulgaria, which is reliant on Russian energy supplies and tourist inflows to its Black Sea summer resorts.

President Rumen Radev said the change of defense ministers in the midst of a military crisis not far away was risky and the ruling coalition would be responsible.

Bulgaria has pledged to bolster NATO's eastern flank and lead a battle group in cooperation with NATO, but comprised mainly of Bulgarian troops. Analysts say Yanev's replacement may spur the deployment of more troops of NATO allies in Bulgaria.

"Bulgaria will not transform into an anti-Russian hawk in NATO, but will follow the tone set by Petkov for a clearer voicing of the Bulgarian position in NATO against the aggression in Ukraine," political commentator Ivo Indzhov said.

In a Facebook post late on Sunday Yanev wrote that he was the subject of a targeted attack aimed at replacing him with someone who would be more open to taking decisions that serve foreign interests, which could put Bulgaria's security at risk.

Petkov slammed Yanev's statement saying neither of his ministers had the right to "their own foreign policy, especially on Facebook".

Petkov said Bulgaria was not forced to take any decisions by its Western allies but stressed that the biggest guarantee for the country's security lay in standing united with its EU peers.

Separately, the foreign ministry said on Monday Bulgaria had evacuated the staff of its consular mission in the Ukrainian Black Sea city of Odessa.



Netanyahu: Israel Today Has More Freedom of Action in Iran Than Ever

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attend a ceremony for the 70th cohort of military combat officers, at an army base near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, October 31, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attend a ceremony for the 70th cohort of military combat officers, at an army base near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, October 31, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
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Netanyahu: Israel Today Has More Freedom of Action in Iran Than Ever

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attend a ceremony for the 70th cohort of military combat officers, at an army base near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, October 31, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attend a ceremony for the 70th cohort of military combat officers, at an army base near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, October 31, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Israel is able to reach anywhere in Iran should the need arise, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.

Netanyahu, in a speech to new military officers, said that Israel has unprecedented freedom of action following its recent airstrikes against Iran.

"Israel today has more freedom of action in Iran than ever. We can reach any place in Iran as necessary," Netanyahu said. "The supreme goal I gave to the Israel Defense Forces and the security branches is to prevent Iran from achieving a nuclear weapon."

Israel attacked military targets in Iran with pre-dawn airstrikes Saturday in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles Iran fired on Israel earlier this month. It was the first time Israel’s military has openly attacked Iran.

Israel is widely thought to be behind a limited airstrike in April near a major air base in Iran that hit the radar system for a Russian-made air defense battery. Iran had earlier fired a wave of missiles and drones at Israel, causing minimal damage, after two Iranian generals were killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike on an Iranian diplomatic post in Syria.