With an overwhelming majority, MEPs adopted a resolution recognising Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. Out of the total of 12 MEPs from the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats who voted against the resolution, 5 are Bulgarian MEPs from the Bulgarian Socialist Party.

Here is how Petar Vitanov, chairman of the delegation of Bulgarian socialists motivated his own vote against the resolution, and that of his colleagues: “You can’t have a resolution calling for restricting all diplomatic contacts. That means not seeking a peaceful settlement, negotiations, but further escalation instead. This harsh rhetoric, I think, means giving Putin free rein. Designate him a terrorist, and you are, to all intents and purposes, giving him the freedom to do whatever he likes in Ukraine, without regard for anything.”

Two of the Bulgarian MEPs, Eva Maydell from the European People’s Party and Andrey Slabakov from the European Conservatives and Reformists, did not take part in the vote.

Reporting by BNR’s correspondent in Brussels Anguelina Piskova