site.btaEx-President Plevneliev: "Former Defence Minister Nenchev Acted in Line with State Policy on MiG-29 Fighters Repair"

Sofia, February 7 (BTA) - Former Bulgarian President (2012-2017) Rosen Plevneliev Wednesday testified before the Sofia City Court in a trial in which ex-defence minister Nikolay Nenchev is charged with malfeasance in office in connection with the repair of the Bulgarian Air Force MiG-29 fighter aircraft in Poland.

According to the prosecution case, between May and September 2015 Nenchev hid in his safe a contract with Russia's RSK MiG Corporation and started negotiations with Poland.

Plevneliev told the court that Nenchev's steps for the repair were in sync with State policy. The former President said that the 2014 NATO Wales Summit, held after the events in the Crimea, decided that each Member State was to increase its defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP and stated that no single country could guarantee its security on its own.

Plevneliev recalled that a Consultative Council on National Security (CCNS) meeting, held on April 27, 2014, considered an Armed Forces Development programme to be submitted by the Cabinet, increasing defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP by 2024 and making investments in defence capabilities so that they can be interoperable under NATO standards. This implied making Bulgarian warplanes identifiable as Allied aircraft in order to meet interoperability criteria. The ex-President himself prioritized the latter, he said. This decision, however, was opposed by Ataka and the Socialist Party.

Plevneliev also said that on numerous occasions and within a short period of time, Russian military aircraft had approached Bulgaria's area of responsibility in NATO airspace. Since Bulgarian aircraft could not be identified as friendly, Poland was cited as a role model at the Wales Summit, which had repaired its own MiG-29 fighters. Plevneliev informed Nenchev about this, while Poland, for its part, offered very lucrative terms for the Bulgarian aircraft, unlike the far less favourable conditions proposed by Russia. Even the sanctions against Russia were taken into account when Poland's offer was discussed.

The former President recalled the grave condition of the Bulgarian Air Force, referring to a recent incident involving a military aircraft during a training.