Defence Minister Todor Tagarev urged the National Assembly to approve the purchase of Stryker armoured vehicles before the local election in the country, otherwise there is a risk of missing the deadline.

The vehicles should be paid for within 5 years. The first of the armoured vehicles should be received in the second half of 2025, and the last – at the beginning of 2028.

Todor Tagarev stated further that Ukraine had asked for more military aid from Bulgaria. “The missiles for the S-300 system we decided to give the country are few in number. They are unserviceable missiles which our army cannot use or repair, but the Ukrainians have an option to do that,” he said in an interview with bTV.

Defence Minister Todor Tagarev's words that Bulgaria would miss the deadline for ratifying the contract for the purchase of Stryker combat vehicles from the US if the parliament did not ratify it before the local vote provoked sharp reactions from GERB and MRF. The Chairman of the Defense Committee Hristo Gadzhev said that the deadline for concluding the contract is in December and there is no need to rush its approval by the National Assembly.

PP-DB MP Radoslav Ribarski also called not to speed up the process of purchasing the armored vehicles. He said that the decision should be discussed by the parliamentary committees. "The commitment of the National Assembly is to re-equip the Bulgarian army, but this should not go against the budget plans," Ribarski added.