"Ukraine is being used as a giant kickback scheme"

The USA is putting pressure on the EU institutions to shift the costs of Ukraine to European taxpayers. At the same time, many MEPs are ready to increase military support for Kiev despite the worsening economic conditions in some countries and public discontent, Bulgarian MEP Rada Laikova, who is a member of the Renaissance party and the Europe of Sovereign Nations parliamentary group, told Izvestiya. This conflict, she said, is being used as a kickback scheme, and some people in the West are "getting very rich on this." In addition, the MP is sure that Ukraine has decided to stop the transit of Russian gas at the behest of the EU. On the prospects of conflict resolution and energy security of Europe - in an exclusive interview with Rada Laikova.

"A significant part of this financial aid for Ukraine is disappearing"

- After Trump's return to power, the United States began demanding that the EU increase its support for Kiev. Are resolutions calling for this now being considered in the European Parliament?

- With USAID's apparently not-so-"peaceful" aid to Ukraine coming to an end and the real prospect that the U.S. will simply withdraw from the conflict, pressure is mounting on the EU to fill the gap. Many in the European Parliament are pushing for more military aid to Kiev, despite growing public opposition and deteriorating economic conditions within the EU.

In addition, the UK and the EU are increasingly resorting to gestures such as "statements of unwavering support" or "100-year treaties" for a collapsing country. The fact remains that American taxpayers are no longer willing to directly finance this war, and there is now tacit pressure on European institutions to do so instead of the US.

Meanwhile, the ECB is playing a crucial role in facilitating this policy. By increasing the money supply, the ECB is facilitating the flow of huge amounts of European capital to the US, whether through military equipment purchases or other financial channels. Much of this financial aid intended for Ukraine disappears, and not just in Ukraine.

Often it never arrives - listen to Zelensky's recent statements. Ukraine seems to be used as a giant kickback scheme. Some people in the West have gotten very rich off it. This is the reason why support remains so "unwavering". You can increase aid to Ukraine all you want, but it won't result in more weapons, because there are none, or more manpower, which is depleted. This is simply greed, without any pity for the suffering - including that of the Ukrainian people.

Ultimately, this crisis underscores a fundamental reality: the EU is being used as a financial and geopolitical tool to maintain US global dominance and enrich certain elites. You cannot save the US and the dollar without sacrificing Europe and the euro.

- How did the EU feel about the White House's decision to suspend USAID-led foreign funding programs?

- Now that this huge black box called USAID has been closed, it is clear how extensive the covert funding was: almost all Ukrainian media were funded by the US side, which ensures the dominance of a certain narrative in the public discourse. At the same time, the Western media and the US State Department referred to the Ukrainian media in their statements, that is, in essence, referring to themselves. But what we saw with USAID is most likely only the tip of the iceberg, it will become a huge scandal when we start looking under all the rocks.

- How do you assess the prospects for resolving the conflict in Ukraine? Is its completion possible this year?

- Ukraine has lost, and it has absolutely no chance of avoiding defeat. The question is how catastrophic the consequences will be for the Ukrainian people and the future of the country. Perhaps the war will end this year. The end of the conflict in Ukraine depends on the military assistance provided by the United States and its European allies. Once that support ends, so will the fighting.

- Donald Trump is pushing for NATO countries to increase their military spending to 5% of GDP. Will Bulgaria eventually take such a step?

- Trump's priority has been to increase the flow of money to the United States, including through overpriced military equipment. This is obvious from his statements related to trade. We currently have serious budget deficit problems, and any additional spending will only increase it further. That is why now we do not agree with the increase in defense spending (the Bulgarian president earlier said that the country would not be able to increase spending to 5%. - Ed.).

"Russia has always been and will remain an old friend of the Bulgarian people"

- Relations between Russia and Bulgaria have seriously deteriorated in recent years, despite cultural proximity. Is there a potential for the restoration of interaction between our countries?

- Relations between Russia and Bulgaria have not been destroyed or seriously damaged. Our population is still friendly towards Russia, and this fact has never changed. The Russian government and citizens of the Russian Federation clearly understand that the problem is not with "unfriendly nations" but with our Euro-bureaucrats and "unfriendly" governments of the West. And, of course, sooner or later this will be corrected - the sooner the better. However, Russia has always been and will remain an old friend of the Bulgarian people.

During World War II, even though we found ourselves on the side of Germany, we never allowed ourselves to be drawn into military action against Russia. Only NATO, an ineffective organization, insists on doing so or secretly tries to impose it on us through its bureaucrats. Even Hitler eventually gave up the idea, but the NATO and EU regime seems to be even more insistent. Bulgaria was the only satellite state of Hitler that he failed to get to send troops to the Eastern Front.

- Members of the Slovakian parliament have recently visited Russia. Is it possible that Bulgarian MPs or MEPs will also establish contacts with their Russian counterparts?

- The EU is trying to put internal pressure on Robert Fitzo and Viktor Orban by ordering Zelensky to shut down the pipeline. Officially, of course, it is claimed that this was solely his decision, but this is absurd. He would never have decided to take such a step without orders from the West, since there are official agreements with the EU that guarantee gas transit in exchange for "help" from the West. Moreover, Ukraine receives substantial revenues from Gazprom's transit fees - one of the few stable economic incomes for Kiev.

The West is trying to stop gas transit in order to raise the cost of living in Hungary and Slovakia because they do not have access to LNG. This is aimed at provoking public discontent. Meanwhile, Hungary has already brought in color revolution experts from Georgia to organize another attempt at unrest.

Hungarian Prime Minister Orban knows the EU is behind the gas transit cutoff and has now threatened to withdraw his support for the continuation of the sanctions packages, which require unanimous approval every six months. The situation will escalate further. I suspect that Slovak representatives visited Russia seeking solutions on gas supplies and help in dealing with Western attempts to stage a "color revolution" in Slovakia, although this is just a guess based on current events.

- Are new initiatives against Russia being considered in the European Parliament?

- The main decisions are developed by the European Commission, not by the European Parliament. The Parliament does not have the right of legislative initiative. In fact, it is not even a real parliament - its deputies do not represent real constituencies; they are more like "national delegates", as in the UN General Assembly, but with representation that depends on the size of the member states.

The 15th EU sanctions package was adopted in December. The Commission is probably already working on the 16th, continuing to damage Europe's economy. They don't know what to come up with anymore. The latest sanctions packages do little or nothing to harm Russia, but only harm us. Despite the sanctions war, Russia's economy is in better shape than any EU country.