site.btaNATO Commander Breedlove Confers with Prime Minister, Defence Minister, Defence Chief

NATO Commander Breedlove
Confers with Prime Minister,
Defence Minister, Defence Chief


Sofia, November 12 (BTA) - NATO's Supreme Allied Commander
Europe (SACEUR) and Commanding Officer of Allied Command
Operations, General Philip Breedlove conferred with Prime
Minister Boyko Borissov, Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev and
Defence Chief Rear Admiral Roumen Nikolov on Wednesday.
Breedlove paid a two day official visit here on Tuesday and
Wednesday.

During the meeting Defence Minister Nenchev, quoted by the
Defence Ministry press office, said: "I would like to assure
you that Bulgaria will remain a predictable NATO member and
will continue to aspire to upgrade the country's armed forces
in the shortest time in order to be compatible with its
partners."

The sides discussed upgrading the capabilities of the Alliance
through joint exercises, future development of NATO projects and
efforts to increase defence spending.

General Breedlove thanked the Bulgarian military for their
excellent service in NATO operations. Breedlove pledged support
for achieving the aims of the Bulgaria in NATO and in European
Defence 2020 Strategy in modernizing the Bulgarian armed
forces.

General Breedlove and Defence Chief Roumen Nikolov discussed the
new challenges to security environment. The two discussed
possible expansion of the joint implementation of air policing
tasks with NATO allies and NATO's Resolute Support Mission in
Afghanistan.

In Sofia, Breedlove gave a public lecture for the Atlantic Club
of Bulgaria. "A strong defence begins first at home and that
means commitment and investment for each NATO member," General
Breedlove said at the lecture. "If NATO is to deal effectively
with all emerging threats, then all of the Alliance's
adaptation efforts must be affordable and sustainable," he went
on.

Answering a BTA question about the lessons for the Member States
from the new security challenges, the General said that nations
must be committed to investments which make their militaries
compatible with NATO, capable and trained.

Breedlove described Bulgaria as "an incredible, capable and
vibrant partner of NATO. "We look forward to cooperating with
Bulgaria as it works towards modernizing its forces and
remaining capable and interoperable with NATO forces," he said.

According to Breedlove, many nations showed a strong commitment
during the NATO Summit in Wales to stop reducing military
spending and start a programme for increasing it in order to
reach the two per cent (of GDP) goal. It is important for all
member states to remember that these investments are important
for allowing members to remain compatible with and a part of the
Alliance, the General noted.

The guest discussed the current security challenges, saying that
one clear set of new challenges is emanating from the East.
"Russia's actions represent a clear decision by Moscow to reject
the fundamental principles that have shaped international
security for over 25 years. There is no doubt anymore about
Russia's direct military involvement in Ukraine," he said,
adding that NATO allies have a strong role to play for bringing
to light the facts and refute Russia's false narrative.
According to Breedlove, Russia should be held responsible before
the international community for any such further actions in
Ukraine or other places in the region.

The General said that NATO has taken various measures,
explaining that the Ukraine crisis has shown that NATO's current
readiness does not necessarily translate into responsiveness,
which is why the Alliance is working on a series of measures to
allow NATO to respond to future challenges adequately,
effectively and at speed. Breedlove also discussed the problems
stemming from the actions of the Islamic State in Iraq and
Syria.

Asked to comment on last week's reports about a column of
Russian tanks entering Ukraine, Breedlove said that in the past
few days columns of Russian equipment - primarily tanks,
artillery, air defence systems and combat troops - were seen
entering into Ukraine. "We do not have a good picture at this
time of how many. We agree there are multiple columns," he
said, adding that this was also reported by the Organization
for Security and Co-operation in Europe. The General said,
however, that he is not sure about their intent.

Asked by Ukraine's Ambassador here, Mykola Baltazhy, what NATO's
reaction would be if Russia continues to act in a way which
escalates the situation, General Breedlove recalled the position
that there is not a military solution in Ukraine but there
must be a political one.

The lecture was attended by President of the Bulgarian Atlantic
Club Solomon Passy, former defence ministers Anyu Angelov and
Angel Naydenov, former foreign minister Kristian Vigenin, the
ambassadors of the United States and Ukraine, senior military
officials, BTA Director General Maxim Minchev. PK/MY,PP


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