'Guns and Roses: Bulgaria's military-industrial complex thrives on war in Ukraine.'

With huge arsenals and endless fields of roses, Kazanlak in central Bulgaria has truly lived up to its nickname of "Guns and Roses" ever since Moscow invaded Ukraine.

Bulgaria's thriving military industry has never been so successful, with exports estimated at $4.3 billion last year (about four billion euros) - three times the previous record. Bulgaria's oldest military manufacturer, Arsenal, which already employs 7,000 workers at its Kazanlak plant, is offering seaside vacations and other incentives to attract staff. It is even luring back Bulgarians who left the country for the Balkans to find work abroad.

"When they hired us, they''They said there are orders that will keep us busy for at least five years,' one of the new employees told the AFP news agency at the factory gate. "I've only been here a week myself and I already have three new colleagues," said the woman, without giving her name. While one would think she would trumpet this success on all corners, the company did not respond to AFP news agency requests for an interview.

Although Bulgaria itself has largely not sent arms to Ukraine because of the country's historical ties to Moscow, Ukraine is the central destination for Kazanlak's ramped-up production. The arms and ammunition are instead purchased by neighboring Romania and Poland before they reach Kiev.

Kazanlak and the "Rose Valley" surrounding it, which is also''which is most often used by Kiev - although it wants to modernize its aging production facilities with European funds to start producing NATO-standard ammunition and other munitions. And there was more good news on that front on Monday, when European Union foreign ministers agreed to a two-billion euro plan that included the joint purchase of desperately needed artillery shells for Ukraine.

Although it stands to gain significantly from the deal, Sofia tried to maintain its diplomatic resolve by not signing the joint statement. And that didn't stop EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton from embarking last week on a tour of European''to arms manufacturers in Bulgaria. Not far from Kazanlak, in Sopot, Breton visited the country's largest military manufacturer, VMZ.

The state-owned company has a new production line for the 155mm artillery shells needed by Ukraine's army. Breton's visit was not open to the media. Sending arms to Ukraine is an extremely sensitive issue in Bulgaria. The Socialists - the successors to the old Communist Party - and''Increasingly ultra-nationalists are strongly opposed as the country prepares for its fifth election in two years next month. Parliament has so far authorized only one shipment of light weapons and ammunition to Kiev.

In the immediate aftermath of the invasion, pro-government Prime Minister Kirill Petkov walked a tightrope to help Kiev. "We estimate that a third of the ammunition Ukraine needed in the first phase of the war came from Bulgaria," Petkov told German newspaper Die Welt. Even after the fall of Petkov's short-lived cabinet last June, indirect arms sales continued. Vladimir Milenski, a retired Bulgarian army colonel, regrets that Bulgaria refused to openly arm Kiev. "It would have sent a strong''a political signal showing that we are not a political pawn in Russia's hands,' he said." "Belonging to the family of the European Union and NATO and behaving in a way that does not violate the interests of Russia, the aggressor after all, is tantamount to supporting it. "

Bulgarians will vote in early parliamentary elections on April 2, with the war in Ukraine taking center stage in the campaign.

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