site.btaBulgarian-American Defence Industry Forum Held in Sofia

Sofia, November 10 (BTA) - A Bulgarian-American defence industry forum was held here on Friday, co-organized by the Defence Ministry and the American-Central European Business Association.

Speaking at the forum, Defence Minister Krassimir Karakachanov said that the projects for modernizing Bulgaria's armed forces should have started at least ten years ago and already be done.

Bulgaria has the ambitious goal of implementing projects for modernizing its armed forces. The aim is to have all three projects for modernizing the Air Force, Army and Navy implemented simultaneously, Karakachanov said. Another big goal is, while seeking partners for implementing these projects, to allow Bulgarian companies in this sector to participate in all three of them, the Defence Minister noted, adding that this would give the Bulgarian economy a powerful impetus.

"When one wants to be a respected member of an international organization, such as NATO, one must have the capabilities and not just rely on the notorious Article 5 (of the North Atlantic Treaty, which concerns collective defence), but to also read very carefully the previous articles, such as Article 3 (concerning the concept of self-help and mutual aid)," Karakachanov said. "From this standpoint, albeit a little bit late in time, as I believe these projects should have been started at least ten years ago and be already implemented, we have the difficult, responsible and noble task concerning security and our armed forces, to move these projects forward," the Bulgarian Defence Minister noted.

"I am proud to say that our defence partnership is stronger than ever," said US Ambassador to Bulgaria Eric Rubin at the forum, giving as an example Bulgaria's hosting of Saber Guardian - the largest US-led exercise in Europe, this past summer.

"In this context, the United States welcomes Bulgaria's concerted efforts to increase its defence spending to become an even more robust and interoperable NATO ally and partner, and to meet the defence commitments that all allies made at the Wales and Warsaw NATO Summits. Achieving the 2 per cent defence spending target will send a clear signal that Bulgaria stands ready to meet the security challenges of today and those of tomorrow," Rubin said.

The forum was also attended by US and Bulgarian companies interested in industrial cooperation and investments.