site.btaNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Visits Sofia, Discusses Security Issues, Defence Spending with President, PM, Ministers

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg 
Visits Sofia, Discusses Security Issues, Defence Spending
with President, PM, Ministers 


Sofia, January 22 (BTA) - NATO Secretary General Jens 
Stoltenberg paid an official visit to Sofia Thursday at the 
invitation of President Rosen Plevneliev. Security issues, the 
Alliance agenda and defence spending dominated the guest's talks
with President Plevneliev, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, 
Defence Minister Nikolai Nenchev and Foreign Minister Daniel 
Mitov.

This is Stoltenberg's first visit to Bulgaria after he took over
as NATO Secretary General last October. 

At a joint news conference with the guest, President Plevneliev 
said he expects the defence budget of Bulgaria to be increased 
during the year so as to meet a commitment this country has 
made at the NATO Summit in Wales last year.

Bulgaria's defence budget for 2015 is set at 1.16 per cent of 
GDP and is some 30 million euro smaller than the year before. In
Wales, this country made a commitment not to decrease defence 
spending this year and then, in the course of ten years, to 
bring it gradually up to 2 per cent of GDP. 

The President said he informed the NATO Secretary General that 
the decrease in this year's budget was called for by the 
difficult economic situation in Bulgaria. 

Plevneliev pointed out that Bulgaria relies on the support of 
its partners for re-armament and technological modernization of 
the Bulgarian armed forces. The need to reduce the dependence 
on a single supplier of arms technologies and enhance the 
interoperability of the Bulgarian army and the other NATO armies
is obvious and the government, Parliament and President attach
priority to it. "This is a national priority," Plevneliev 
said.

Noting the Bulgaria in NATO and in European Defence 2020 
Programme adopted by the caretaker cabinet, Plevneliev recalled 
that it envisaged the implementation of seven priority defence 
projects and a gradual increase in defence spending.

The President commented that while NATO is not an investor, it 
is Bulgaria's partner in the modernization of its armed forces 
and in achieving interoperability. This country will seek 
cooperation with other countries in an effort to carry out those
seven projects. 

For his part, Stoltenberg said that Bulgaria is a highly valued 
ally within NATO. He noted that it is very important for all 
allies to fulfill the commitments they have made at the Wales 
Summit. The guest said he was assured that Bulgaria will fulfill
its commitments and increase expenditure on defence as of the
next autumn.

Answering a question about NATO presence in light of the Ukraine
crisis and the increasingly frequent terrorist threats, 
Stoltenberg said everybody sees the need of enhanced NATO 
presence in Bulgaria and the other East European countries. 
Assurance measures have been taken, which include more troops on
the ground on a rotation basis participating in exercises, and 
more ships. All this increases NATO's military presence in the 
eastern allies for a defence purpose, as part of collective 
defence. 

He also said this activity would continue as the Readiness 
Action Plan was being implemented so as to have a high readiness
force to be deployed at very short notice.

NATO will deploy command and control elements in six East 
European NATO allies - the three Baltic countries, Poland, 
Romania and Bulgaria - a plan Stoltenberg said he discussed with
Plevneliev. A command and control element will be partly manned
by Bulgarian personnel and partly by multinational NATO 
personnel. "This will be a permanent NATO presence in Bulgaria, 
being a very critical and crucial link between national forces 
and NATO forces, preparing exercises, planning, and also being a
key to providing the framework for re-enforcement if needed," 
said Stoltenberg.

He added that NATO "will always do what it takes to protect all 
allies against any threat", which accounts for the strengthening
of NATO presence in the eastern part of the Alliance.

The NATO Secretary General and Prime Minister Boyko Borissov 
discussed cooperation within the Alliance and the Readiness 
Action Plan, among other issues. Borissov underscored the need 
to ensure efficient use of defence resources and strike a 
balance between the available budget and having well-trained and
properly resourced armed forces. They discussed the 
opportunities offered by the NATO and EU initiatives for smart 
defence and capacity sharing.

Stoltenberg gave high marks to Bulgaria's participation in the 
Alliance missions, and operations and said that the Bulgarian 
service persons enjoy the reputation of fine professionals.

Regional and energy security were also on the agenda of the 
meeting. 

Important issues of the NATO agenda were also discussed at a 
meeting of Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov and the Secretary 
General of the Alliance, as the two focused on regional and 
energy security and the implementation of the NATO Readiness 
Action Plan, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said.

Mitov and Stoltenberg dwelled on the issue of the modernization 
of the Bulgarian armed forces and the enhancement of their 
interoperability.

Regarding NATO-Russia relations, the two sides confirmed that a
clear and convincing change in Russia's actions is needed as 
this country should demonstrate compliance with the 
international law and principles. They further noted that the 
doors to dialogue with Russia are open but, for the time being, 
there is a lack of confidence on which this dialogue should be 
based.

NATO's enlargement was also discussed and the Bulgarian Foreign 
Minister noted that Bulgaria is a consistent supporter of the 
"open doors" policy, including the countries of the Western 
Balkans. Stoltenberg said that the Alliance is determined to do
everything necessary in order to protect the allies and 
guarantee their security.

Stoltenberg and Defence Minister Nikolai Nenchev agreed that 
Bulgaria is very close to the two most serious challenges facing
the Alliance at the moment - insecurity in the Middle Easy and
tensions in the Black Sea region - which is why this country 
should be part of the NATO Rapid Response Strategy, said 
Nenchev's Ministry. The two also discussed the Readiness Action 
Plan. 



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