Bulgaria’s President gets into a dispute with the leader of GERB over new F-16 jets

GERB Leader Boyko Borissov and President Rumen Radev got into a dispute in the media over the country's new F-16 fighter jets, the first of which is already on Bulgarian soil, while the second is on its way to the country.

"We paid a lot for the F-16, we waited a long time, we will maintain it very difficult and expensively, but such was Mr. Borissov's choice in 2019," the President told journalists in Sofia in response to a question about whether there was a problem with the F-16 fighter jet received.

Earlier today, the GERB leader commented from Valencia, where he is for the European People's Party congress, that the President spread a rumor among journalists that the only delivered fighter jet was not flying and needed repairs. "Do you know what I told Defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov? If what President Radev whispered to journalists was true, the head of the Air Force should be fired immediately," Borissov said.

The president called on the GERB leader that his government should provide funds so that the aircraft can be maintained in operational readiness and fly.