Ivaylo Mirchev, co-chair of Democratic Bulgaria, and Assen Vassilev, leader of We Continue the Change, asked parliament to call an urgent meeting of the Consultative Council on National Security after reports that ships were hit in the Black Sea.
Mirchev said the strikes happened inside Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone. "Ships have already sunk in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone," he said, asking whether "Mrs Yotova" is ready to call the council together.
Democratic Bulgaria and We Continue the Change say the council should have met at least three times over the past nine months. They want it to meet now too, but say they doubt it will.
Both parties sharply criticized the president for not calling the council together. They said Bulgaria's parliamentary parties belong to political families across Europe and could use those ties to bring extra information to the council.
Mirchev said the war is just 300 kilometers from Bulgaria.
Vassilev said it's only normal to defend Bulgaria's territorial waters, or at least explain why they haven't been defended. He said the presidency hasn't responded, and that the head of the general staff has already resigned over disagreements with the political leadership. He added that even though the army's budget has doubled, Bulgarian citizens still aren't properly protected.
"Right now, we clearly don't have a real president of Bulgaria, a real commander-in-chief," Vassilev said.
The opposition also blamed the government for keeping Bulgaria out of Europe's joint anti-drone defense system.
Both parties said Bulgaria faced threats in 2022 and 2023 too, but back then, they say, the country dealt with those threats together with its partners.
Other parliamentary groups are expected to give their views as well.
Updated (06.10, 11:49): According to BNT, prime minister Rumen Radev called in officials from several ministries and confirmed the attack, contradicting earlier reports that the president "had not responded". The rescue operation is under way 70 miles east of the town of Byala, in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone, and is being run by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Varna. Crews are searching for survivors from the first ship, which sank. Radev said the second ship had been carrying wheat and was sailing south, while the first ship, which sank, had been sailing north.