site.btaDefence Minister Yanev Confers withVisiting Department of StateCounselor Derek Chollet

ESD 11:46:01 09-02-2022
BR1141ES.106
106 DEFENCE - MINISTER - STATE DEPARTMENT - MEETING Ampl

Defence Minister Yanev Confers with
Visiting Department of State
Counselor Derek Chollet


Sofia, January 9 (BTA) - Defence Minister Stefan Yanev conferred late on Tuesday with Derek Chollet, Counselor of the United States Department of State, the Defence Ministry said.

Chollet led a delegation of senior U.S. officials to Sofia as part of a multi-country trip to engage with U.S. partners and allies on a range of strategic issues, the United States Embassy here said in a press release on Wednesday.

The talks with Yanev focused on bilateral military relations and continuing strategic dialogue, the opportunities for cooperation in defence industry between Bulgaria and the United States, and the projects for upgrading Bulgarian armed forces.

"It is important to us at this critical point to be sure we are headed in the right direction through modernization and capacity building," Yanev said. He stressed the need of implementation of the project for acquisition of new armoured personnel carriers for the infantry as part of the efforts to establish a mechanized infantry unit, a priority for the Bulgarian Army in the shortest possible term, the Minister said.

The sides also discussed the complicated security environment involving the Russian-Ukrainian border, NATO's role in this context, as well as the possible approaches to find a diplomatic solution of conflict issues and de-escalation of tension. Both underscored the strategic partnership of the two Alliance members.

Other subjects included the opportunities for devising an allied Black Sea strategy, and the serious problem of hybrid and cyber-attacks. Yanev said Bulgaria is working on developing a national cyber strategy and cyber defence capacity building.

During his visit to Bulgaria, Chollet also met with Deputy Prime Minister Assen Vassilev and Foreign Minister Teodora Genchovska.

A broad range of issues were discussed, including boosting shared prosperity and security. The visit continues the bilateral Strategic Dialogue launched in January 2020.

Chollet hailed the results of his talks with members of the Bulgarian government, saying: "We welcome the ambitious agenda of the new Bulgarian government and look forward to supporting them as they tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, corruption, climate change, energy diversification, and other key issues," the press release said.
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