site.btaDraft MoU under European Sky Shield Initiative Approved

Bulgaria's Council of Ministers on Wednesday approved a draft Memorandum of Understanding between the defence ministries of Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden on the joint acquisition of ground-based air defence systems within the framework of the European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI).

The approval of the Memorandum will enable Bulgaria to joint programmes for the joint acquisition, maintenance and use of ground-based air defence systems that can be integrated into NATO's Integrated Air and Missile Defence as part of a uniform anti-missile and anti-aircraft system in Europe.

The ESSI project was launched by Germany in October 2022 amid increased concerns about the limited European capability to defend against Russian ballistic missile systems. The initiative seeks to facilitate the multinational acquisition and integration of a broad range of air defence capabilities in an efficient and cost-effective way using interoperable, off-the-shelf solutions. Nineteen European countries participate in ESSI: 16 NATO Allies (Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and the UK), plus Sweden, Switzerland and Austria.