Sofia. The three Bulgarian helicopter crew members who were released after 145 days of captivity in Sudan have returned to Bulgaria by a Bulgarian military aircraft.
Branko Chorbadzhiyski, Veselin Manolov and Alexander Dimitrov were welcomed at Sofia airport by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and their families. Bulgaria’s National Intelligence Service chief general Kircho Kirov and Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov were also aboard the Spartan aircraft. Immediately after landing in Sofia the three pilots were taken to the Military Medical Academy to undergo checkups.
“We are very happy we come back to Bulgaria. Not for a single moment have we doubted the Bulgarian government. We are very grateful to the Sudanese authorities for cooperating for our release,” captain Branko Chorbadzhiyski said at the airport.
The prime minister noted that the Bulgarian foreign ministry and intelligence service had been working for their release. He added that several missions had been sent.
Much money was spent, including on today’s flight with a Spartan military aircraft. Once again the Bulgarian state shows it works for any Bulgarian national wherever they are. The president has been informed about everything, the prime minister said.
Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov thanked the Sudanese authorities and Bulgarian Air Force for helping return the three crew members back to Bulgaria.
The attitude towards us was surprisingly good in general; we were captives after all. There was no violence. There was some respect for us, even their boss treated us well, said captain Branko Chorbadzhiyski.
“From time to time we had an opportunity to call our relatives. After all we were captives,” he said.
According to him there were many hard periods, but the hardest of them was the lack of communication with their families.
All three pilots said they had known their whereabouts all the time.
A general from the Sudanese intelligence service arrived at about 9:00 yesterday. We were waiting for him for a long time and did not know whether he would come. We were sitting in the shadow of a carpet; they were talking for three hours and then a helicopter with Maltese crew landed, said captain Chorbadzhiyski, referring to the moments just before their release.
I will continue doing this profession, but I have not decided yet whether I will return to Sudan. My family were worried a lot, he said further.
The three Bulgarian crew members were released also thanks to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s personal commitment.
Branko Chorbadzhiyski, Veselin Manolov and Alexander Dimitrov were welcomed at Sofia airport by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and their families. Bulgaria’s National Intelligence Service chief general Kircho Kirov and Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov were also aboard the Spartan aircraft. Immediately after landing in Sofia the three pilots were taken to the Military Medical Academy to undergo checkups.
“We are very happy we come back to Bulgaria. Not for a single moment have we doubted the Bulgarian government. We are very grateful to the Sudanese authorities for cooperating for our release,” captain Branko Chorbadzhiyski said at the airport.
The prime minister noted that the Bulgarian foreign ministry and intelligence service had been working for their release. He added that several missions had been sent.
Much money was spent, including on today’s flight with a Spartan military aircraft. Once again the Bulgarian state shows it works for any Bulgarian national wherever they are. The president has been informed about everything, the prime minister said.
Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov thanked the Sudanese authorities and Bulgarian Air Force for helping return the three crew members back to Bulgaria.
The attitude towards us was surprisingly good in general; we were captives after all. There was no violence. There was some respect for us, even their boss treated us well, said captain Branko Chorbadzhiyski.
“From time to time we had an opportunity to call our relatives. After all we were captives,” he said.
According to him there were many hard periods, but the hardest of them was the lack of communication with their families.
All three pilots said they had known their whereabouts all the time.
A general from the Sudanese intelligence service arrived at about 9:00 yesterday. We were waiting for him for a long time and did not know whether he would come. We were sitting in the shadow of a carpet; they were talking for three hours and then a helicopter with Maltese crew landed, said captain Chorbadzhiyski, referring to the moments just before their release.
I will continue doing this profession, but I have not decided yet whether I will return to Sudan. My family were worried a lot, he said further.
The three Bulgarian crew members were released also thanks to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s personal commitment.
. MiG offered us MiG-33 but our government refused which was a stupid reason to be honest..
