Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – MEP Elena Yoncheva expressed she keeps working for the release of two Bulgarian sailors captured in Yemen, and there is advancement in the case.
Earlier in the day, Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning leader Delyan Peevski insisted the government mandate Yoncheva to negotiate for the release of the Bulgarian sailors from the cargo ship Galaxy Leader seized by Houthi rebels in Yemen on November 19, 2023. Yoncheva seated with the ship’s Bulgarian captain and first mate in Yemen in September 2024.
She said: “My mission to Yemen is not a private journey. It is part of my responsibilities as a member of the European Parliament, a journalist and a Bulgarian citizen who can help fellow Bulgarians in distress.” “My mission is humanitarian, and I put forward only humanitarian arguments before the authorities in Sana’a,” Yoncheva went on to say.Â
Her gratitude goes out to the Bulgarian institutions for mailing her a letter which confirms that her task is entirely humanitarian. She stated that when she visited Yemen in September, she brought along a letter from the families of the two Bulgarians, about which the Foreign Ministry was reported. In Yemen, Yoncheva noticed that there was a very substantial chance for the two sailors to go home, but an obstacle emerged at the last moment.
