Bulgaria's foreign minister tells Ukraine's ambassador airspace violations are unacceptable

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova has told Ukrainian Ambassador Olesia Ilashchuk that incursions into Bulgarian airspace are unacceptable following a drone incident near Kardam.

As reported by BGNES, the Bulgarian side asked Ukraine to provide all available information that could help fully establish the circumstances of the incident. The minister said it is extremely important for Bulgaria to take the necessary steps to prevent similar cases in the future. The importance of maintaining direct and effective channels of communication between the relevant authorities of both countries was also emphasised.

For her part, Ilashchuk expressed deep concern about what happened and pointed out that Ukraine did not deliberately direct drones towards Bulgaria. She confirmed that the Ukrainian side is willing to provide full assistance in establishing all the circumstances of the incident.

Bulgaria is also in contact with Romania over the drone incursion. Velislava Petrova has also informed the foreign ministers of EU member states about the incident and the measures taken by Bulgaria. An exchange of the latest information on the matter between NATO allies is also expected on Wednesday.

On 8 August, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said that an unidentified drone entered Bulgarian airspace from Romania and subsequently exploded one kilometre away from a compressor station on the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline, near the former Kardam border crossing between the two countries.

Bulgaria's Ministry of Defence said that the UAV is most likely a Ukrainian-made Maia decoy drone.

Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that if the drone is indeed Ukrainian, it ended up in Bulgaria not because of any deliberate action by the Ukrainian side, and that Kyiv is open to working with Sofia to establish all the details.