site.btaEU Military Committee Chairman Discusses Defence Policies in Sofia

Sofia, January 25 (BTA) - The Chairman of the European Union Military Committee, General Mikhail Kostarakos, received the St George Badge of Honour, First Class for Officers, from the Bulgarian Defence Ministry during a ceremony in Sofia Thursday. Earlier in the day, Gen. Kostarakos and Defence Minister Krassimir Karakachanov discussed European defence matters and security issues concerning the Western Balkans.

Kostarakos is in Bulgaria at the invitation of the Chief of Defence, Lieutenant General Andrei Botsev, and has talked with the military and political leadership of the Defence Ministry.

Discussing military capabilities, Botsev and Kostarakos considered the continuation of efforts and initiatives under the Global Strategy for the EU's Foreign and Security Policy. Botsev welcomed an EU Council decision about a Coordinated Annual Review on Defence. He called for further work on the European Defence Fund and urged the adoption of a regulation establishing an EU Defence Industrial Development Programme.

Bulgaria has already submitted its national plan for joining the Permanent Structured Cooperation initiative, Botsev went on to say. The country has chosen the projects in which it could participate after they are endorsed by the EU Council.

Lt. Gen. Botsev noted that one of Bulgaria's priorities in working with its partners is to promote the EU's cooperation with NATO. He hailed the progress achieved in this field. He underscored the specific focus of the two blocs' interaction in the Western Balkans. The Chief of Defence praised the performance of the Bulgarian military in Operation EUFOR Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

For his part, Gen. Kostarakos said the EU is confronted with multilateral risks and challenges from the east and the south. Therefore, the EU has worked out its new Global Strategy and has radically changed the direction of its development. According to the guest, Bulgaria has already experienced these eastern and southern challenges, and now, while presiding over the EU Council in the first half of the year, the country has the important role to keep up the momentum and help bring the EU one step closer to implementing the idea of a stronger Europe.

The leader of the highest EU military body acknowledged that the agenda of the Bulgarian EU Presidency includes all relevant matters of defence, from the Permanent Structured Cooperation and the development of military capabilities to the promotion of EU-NATO cooperation.

Kostarakos also noted that one of the EU battlegroups which are on stand-by during the Bulgarian EU Presidency is HELBROC, to which Bulgaria is a party. This means that the country is in a six-month period of actively contributing to European security both politically and militarily, he said.

Earlier in the day, Botsev and Kostarakos paid tribute at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier in Sofia. Kostarakos gave a talk on European defence at the Military Academy.