site.btaKrassimir Karakachanov Attends Informal Meeting of EU Defence Ministers

Tallinn, September 7 (BTA) - Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Krassimir Karakachanov attended the Informal Meeting of Defence Ministers in Tallinn on Thursday as part of Estonia's EU Council Presidency, his Ministry said.

In his statement at the working lunch, Karakachanov told his counterparts Bulgaria was analysing in detail the projects proposed by other countries and possible ways to participate in them. Bulgaria's criterion for joining projects is that they should meet its national defence plans and objectives as well as the requirements of Europe's defence capability.

Karakachanov said the areas in which Bulgaria could contribute to Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) had been identified, and listed improving the logistic support for EU operations and missions, training of officers, and developing disaster and incident response capabilities. Sofia will shortly make a political decision about its participation in the general notification and will later decide on joining specific projects under PESCO.

The Defence Minister said Bulgaria would support the requirements for an increase in defence spending adopted within NATO's framework, as well as for expanding the financing of Common Foreign and Security Policy missions and operations.

In conclusion, Karakachanov stressed the importance of the European Defence Fund as one of the instruments in support of the joint development of capabilities which will promote the countries' active participation in the PESCO modules. He emphasized that if the competitiveness of Europe's defence industry is to increase, the smaller EU countries and small and medium-sized enterprises should be encouraged to participate in projects of the European Defence Industrial Development Programme.

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, chaired the forum. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix took part in the meeting.

During the first session, the defence ministers participated in EU CYBRID 2017, a strategic table-top cyber defence exercise which focused on crisis response to cyber-campaigns in a hybrid warfare context.