When the EU moved to include Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, and former Lukoil president Vagit Alekperov in its latest package of sanctions against Russia, only one member state objected: Bulgaria.
During his first European Council meeting as Bulgarian prime minister on June 18, Rumen Radev said his country would veto the package, which includes 34 individuals and 47 entities, unless both Russians were removed from the list.
While Radev supported the opening of EU accession talks with Ukraine and met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Brussels to discuss energy security and drone manufacturing, he also publicly defended the Russian Orthodox Church's role in Bulgarian history and described Alekperov as someone who had invested "resources and efforts" in Bulgaria's sole oil refinery.
Radev's veto threat comes just nine days after Bulgaria banned state arms supplies to Kyiv and days after a Russian drone struck the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery, raising concerns that Bulgaria's foreign policy may increasingly prioritize domestic affairs over EU unity on Russia.
What is Bulgaria's link to Lukoil?
