site.btaB9 Countries, Including Bulgaria Adopt Joint Position on Supporting Security in Eastern Europe, NATO, EU

November 26 (BTA) - Addressing a meeting of the Bucharest Nine (B9) Ministers of Defence, which took place in the Romanian capital on Thursday and Friday, Bulgarian Defence Minister Georgi Panayotov said that the threats and challenges along the Eastern flank of the Alliance should be incorporated into NATO's forthcoming Strategic Concept, Panayotov's Ministry said in a press release on Friday.

At the forum, the defence ministers of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic discussed current matters related to common security threats, the NATO-EU agenda in security and defence, sustainability and military mobility, as well as the situation along the border with Belarus.

Panayotov pledged Bulgaria's support for promoting the NATO-EU strategic defence and security partnership so as to enhance the two organizations' deterrence and defence capability of addressing geostrategic challenges. He pointed out further that Bulgaria's desire and readiness to host the regional naval component of the Allied Maritime Command for the Black Sea region should be taken into consideration when building the new NATO forces model.

The participants in the meeting adopted a joint position stressing the need of coordinated action to strengthen the security and defence of the B9 countries as part of the common NATO and EU security. The defence ministers shared a joint concern about the situation on the border with Belarus and expressed solidarity with the allies affected: Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Shared concern was also voiced over Russia's activity along the entire Eastern flank of the Alliance from the Baltic to the Black Sea, and particularly over the military build-up in immediate proximity to the Ukrainian border. DS/BR/LG

Photo: Bulgarian Defence Ministry