Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

NATO urges Bulgaria to rearm its Air Force

Photo: BGNES

This week NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen met for talks in Sofia with the president, the PM and the ministers of defense and of foreign affairs of Bulgaria. As expected, the guest urged the country to rearm its Air Force with western fighters. The Russian fighters are incompatible with NATO aircraft and their maintenance and upgrading is fully dependent on the Russian company RSK MiG. The Bulgarian officials had expressed propensity for such a step in the days preceding the visit, however, the big question is who is going to pay the bill. NATO requires from its allies to allocate 2% of their GDP to defense while Bulgaria has for the time being not exceeded 1.5%. For this reason, apart from the option of obtaining secondhand machines, this country has also been eyeing the opportunity for joint purchases with other countries of Eastern Europe. The government is expected to make up its mind by mid-2014.

Rasmussen has not ruled out a possible deployment of NATO military units and equipment to Bulgaria and has specified that this would happen after the Alliance has updated its defense plans. The update is due in the coming days. In the context of discussions of the forthcoming NATO summit the Bulgarian side has voiced firm support for an invitation for accession to be extended to Montenegro.

Unsurprisingly, central to the talks was the development of the crisis in Ukraine. In this regard the Bulgarian side reiterated its position that the only ways for the settlement of the crisis include political dialogue and diplomatic steps.

The visit of the NATO Secretary General was closely followed by the Russian side. On the day of talks Moscow’s Ambassador in Sofia Yuri Isakov denied claims that Russian aircraft were carrying emergency flights near the Bulgarian airspace. He also made a strong point that tensions over the crisis in Ukraine have not been transferred to Russia-Bulgaria relations. To confirm this he said that the visit of the Chairperson of the Russian Duma to Bulgaria planned for early May had not been canceled and added there was no change in plans for a visit of the President of the Bulgarian Parliament to Russia. A week ago, the ambassador agreed with PM Oresharski on a meeting of the Joint Bulgarian-Russian Commission to be held in June.

English Daniela Konstantinova




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Is Bulgaria heading for another election in an endless cycle?

For the seventh time in three years, Bulgarians went to the polls, and the results shed light on some of the behind-the-scenes manoeuvring. A seemingly minor detail in the counting of votes for the Velichie party, which missed the 4% threshold to enter..

published on 11/5/24 2:24 PM
Delyan Peevski , R, and Ahmed Dogan - leaders of the new formations DPS - New Beginning and APS.

APS calls for investigation into Delyan Peevski's role in the bankruptcy of KTB Bank and Bulgartabac Holding

The Alliance for Rights and Freedoms (APS) of Ahmed Dogan - the honorary chairman of the former DPS movement - announced its support for the PP-DB declaration for a sanitary cordon around Delyan Peevski's formation - DPS - New Beginning. APS said..

published on 11/4/24 4:23 PM
Бойко Борисов

Vote annulment will not lead to new Bulgarian government, GERB leader Boyko Borissov says

Whether there will be negotiations to form a government will become clear after the election of the speaker of the National Assembly . Parliamentarism requires that the speaker be a GERB member and we will not compromise, GERB leader Boyko Borissov told..

published on 11/4/24 1:54 PM