site.btaPM Borissov: "Newbuilt Aircraft Must Be Procured for Air Force"

Sofia, July 7 (BTA) - "Let the experts have their say, but the aircraft [to be procured for the Bulgarian Air Force] must be newbuilt - loads of money will anyway have to be spent on them," Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said here on Friday.

He was referring to an Air Force modernization project, under which Bulgaria is planning to buy eight new fighter aircraft at a total cost of 1,500 million leva. Three bids have been submitted so far: for new Gripens (Griffin) from Sweden's Saab, for used Eurofighter Typhoons from Italy, and for used US-made F-16s from Portugal. An expert working group appointed by Ognyan Gerdjikov's caretaker cabinet recommended the Swedish offer as the best. President Rumen Radev (a former Air Force Commander) backed this option, too, but Borissov initially expressed reservations. Eurofighter was ranked second, and the F-16 bid was disqualified as requiring front-loaded payment which is at odds with the procurement conditions.

"The three armed services must be rearmed in parallel," the head of government reiterated.

Speaking at a discussion on "The Transatlantic Partnership from the Perspective of Bulgaria's EU Presidency", organized by The Atlantic Club of Bulgaria with the support of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Diplomatic Institute, Borissov noted that he continues to believe that the EU-Turkey agreement on migration functions very well. The Prime Minister described as "very important" the Treaty of Goodneighbourliness that Bulgaria expects to sign with Macedonia on August 2. "It is in Bulgaria's interest to back Macedonia's bid for joining the Atlantic Pact," Borissov pointed out. Bulgaria's relations with Russia are strictly pragmatic, and Bulgaria has a strategic interest to be diversified, he pointed out.

In the second part of Friday's discussion, US Ambassador in Sofia Eric S. Rubin will give a public lecture on "U.S.-Bulgarian Partnership: The Way Ahead".