Bulgaria and echo of NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels

published on 12/6/15 12:15 PM

Photo: library

At the beginning of the week at NATO Headquarters in Brussels a meeting of foreign ministers of member states of the alliance took place as a step in the preparation before the summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Warsaw in July 2016. Due to unprecedented challenges to international security, key decisions related to the further involvement of allies in Afghanistan, the policy of "open doors" and the fight against hybrid threats had to be made. Important political discussions were held in relation to Russia, the practical dimensions of providing support for Ukraine and countering the growing threats from the south and east.

But what do this all mean to Bulgaria?

Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov, who took part in the two-day meeting, announced that this country would keep a contingent of 110 soldiers in Afghanistan next year. The number and location of the contingent in Kabul and Kandahar will not be changed. The amount of the annual contribution of this country to Afghan security forces remains unchanged - half a million dollars.

The Bulgarian Foreign Minister described the invitation to Montenegro to start negotiation for NATO membership as a "triumph of the open door policy" and an extremely strong message in times of severe geopolitical dynamics. The stability of the Western Balkans is of crucial importance and we are happy that Montenegro received this invitation, the Bulgarian minister said, but did not comment the negative reaction of Russia related to a possible further enlargement of the Alliance since Albania and Croatia joined in 2009. The Bulgarian diplomat did no link NATO's strategy against hybrid threats to the recent attacks against the websites of Bulgarian institutions during the local elections. Minister Mitov explained that there was no way to determine the nature of these attacks, whether they were targeted or if they were part of a hybrid war. "Sometimes ill-intentioned people are determined to cause harm and we must be very careful when making assessments without being 100% sure about the facts," Minister Mitov said.

It is known that the relations of the Alliance in the Balkans are particularly important. On this occasion Minister Mitov announced that Bulgaria calls for signing an agreement on good neighbor relations with Macedonia. This way Macedonia could also become a member of the EU and NATO. "We insists on creating a good basis for good bilateral relations in the future through this document, which has been a subject of negotiations for too long," the minister said.

It seems clear that Bulgaria will continue to strictly implement its obligations as a member of the alliance, which is something that fits the location of the country.

English: Alexander Markov

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Bulgaria and echo of NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels

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