EditBulgarian Commissioner heads to Sofia amid tensions over Ukraine stance and frozen EU funds
The decision to dispatch a national commissioner to pressure her own country’s leadership is highly unusual
Bulgarian Innovation Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva is travelling to Sofia on Thursday to meet Prime Minister Rumen Radev and President Iliana Yotova, in what Politico describes as an effort to clarify Bulgaria’s position on supporting Ukraine and to assess the new government’s readiness to unlock frozen Recovery and Resilience Facility funds.
According to Politico’s Playbook, Zaharieva will “take the temperature on Ukraine” and sound out “whether Sofia is on the same page as Brussels on how to counter Russia.” The visit follows Radev’s 14 July announcement that Bulgaria would leave the Coalition of the Willing – the informal group coordinating military and financial support for Kyiv. The move caused confusion in Brussels after Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova travelled to Kyiv the next day for the Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit and endorsed a joint declaration that EU officials viewed as broadly consistent with the coalition’s goals.
Although presented as a routine courtesy visit on behalf of the European Commission, Zaharieva’s meetings with the prime minister and president – rather than ministers more closely linked to her innovation and startups portfolio – signal higher political stakes. “I expect it will come up … especially since [Zaharieva] used to be a foreign minister,” one EU official told Politico.
The trip also coincides with ongoing efforts to release more than €2.7 billion in Recovery and Resilience Facility grants that remain partially frozen due to unmet targets, particularly on rule-of-law and anti-corruption reforms. Two months after Radev’s post-election visit to Brussels, the Commission is seeking clarity on whether the new government is prepared to deliver the necessary changes.
The unusual decision to dispatch a national commissioner to pressure her own country’s leadership underscores the sensitivity of Bulgaria’s recent signals on Ukraine support and the persistent deadlock over EU recovery funds.
With Politico Playbook
Caption: Ekaterina Zaharieva during her confirmation hearing [Europe by Satellite]
Updated: July 23, 2026 - 07:21
