Former foreign minister Daniel Mitov
GERB MP and former foreign minister Daniel Mitov questioned Bulgaria’s decision to oppose the inclusion of Russian Patriarch Kirill in the latest European Union sanctions package against Russia, arguing that the move is difficult to justify from the perspective of the national interest.
According to Mitov, it is hard to understand why Bulgaria would risk creating obstacles to a broader sanctions package because of what he described as one of the most visible supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“It is even more difficult for me to understand how exactly the Bulgarian national interest became linked to the possibility of Bulgaria blocking an entire sanctions package because of Putin’s chaplain,” he said.
Mitov stressed that the debate should not be viewed as a matter of religion, church governance, or the canonical position of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. In his view, the issue concerns the public role played by Patriarch Kirill throughout Russia’s war against Ukraine.
