Democratic Bulgaria (DB) has accused Iliana Yotova of using the idea of sending Bulgarian soldiers to Ukraine to frighten voters ahead of the election. MP Anna Bodakova read the party's statement in parliament. Yotova is acting president and a candidate for Progressive Bulgaria (PB).

DB says Yotova presents her refusal to send soldiers as the main difference between herself and her rivals. The party says she is suggesting that if people do not vote for her, they will have to send their families to the front. The statement calls this manipulation, not peacemaking. It says the words "they will send our children to the front" turn help for Ukraine into a threat, not a concern.

On 21 February 2025, the 51st parliament passed a declaration that Bulgarian troops should not take part in fighting in Ukraine. The parliamentary group We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria, as it was then, backed it. Under the constitution, parliament has the right to allow Bulgarian armed forces to be sent abroad.

DB wants Yotova to name the party that proposes sending Bulgarian soldiers to the front, and to show the proposal and specific documents. It says she must respect parliament's position and stop lying. It also asks PB to protect against hybrid attacks, saying PB is responsible for the messages of the candidate it backs.

DB recalls warnings from European institutions about Russian hybrid campaigns, sabotage and cyberattacks in Bulgaria. The party says that presenting support for Ukraine as a threat to families serves Kremlin propaganda, because it confuses and divides people and breeds distrust in institutions. DB says anyone who disagrees with PB is not a warmonger, and that backing Ukraine does not mean Bulgarian soldiers on Ukrainian soil.

DB's position is public and clear, and was not invented for the election, Bodakova said. She said Yotova makes up her opponents' positions herself and then casts herself as the saviour from her own inventions. PB should not be a mouthpiece for disinformation, the MP said. Soldiers are not election props, their families are not hostages of anyone's candidacy, and people's fear is not party property, she said.

The president's responsibility does not end when the campaign starts, Bodakova said. She called on Yotova to be ashamed of trading in fear and to show political sanity. The statement says: "Bulgaria's security is not a personal decision that an acting president can promise Bulgarian citizens in return for votes."

The statement ends: "Bulgaria does not have to pay for anyone's election campaign with fear. We all want peace. Only the aggressor and those who repeat his excuses do not want it."