A day before the NATO summit in Wales on the 4th and 5th of September a new version of a controversial document entitled "Vision: Bulgaria in NATO and European Defense 2020" was issued. The first version qualified Russia as a threat to national security and that made caretaker Prime Minister Georgi Bliznashki call for changes in the strategy. The second version of the document does not include the previous assessment that "strengthening the capacity of Russia's conventional military provokes Bulgarian national defense capabilities.” The claim that "active and widespread promotion of Russian politics, particularly through Bulgarian politicians, businessmen and media is obvious information war that jeopardizes the integrity of the institutions and the state" was also skipped in the new document. The update of the strategy toned down the previous version. Russia is no longer defined as a threat to national security, but its annexation of the Crimea is defined as illegal, while the conflict in eastern Ukraine is said to be the most serious threat to peace and security in Europe after World War II. The final version of the vision continues to read that Bulgaria is one of the areas with the greatest concentration of risks and threats in the Euro-Atlantic community. It is also stated that "sanctions directly affect the economic interests of Bulgaria and it, being extremely dependent on one supplier of energy resources /Russia/, badly needed to diversify its energy sources and increase cooperation within the EU in order to reduce the negative economic impact of the crisis."

Revising the document has caused various reactions. The GERB party, which defines itself as a rightist political force said the document was of great importance, while debates over its adoptions were delayed. This party stayed away from political attacks against the vision, saying it was not prepared by politicians but experts. Similar is the position of the rightist Reformist bloc, which shares the views of the strategy including the idea that Russia is one of the foreign factors that posed a threat to Bulgarian national security. Leftist parties oppose this view and according to the Socialist Party, such a document should not be the work of a caretaker government.

The Vision will serve as a starting point for the position of the Bulgarian delegation during the upcoming NATO summit. At the meeting Bulgaria will be represented by President Rosen Plevneliev, who supported the first version of the document, as well as Defense Minister Velizar Shalamanov, who is considered its main author.

English: Alexander Markov