Round Table on Enhancing National Resilience Held in Sofia

Momchil Rusev, Konstantin Kostov

A round table on enhancing national resilience held at the Military Academy in Sofia on April 8, 2025 (BTA Photo/Vladimir Shokov)

Sofia,

08.04.2025 13:26

(BTA)

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#Ukraine

A round table on enhancing national resilience was held at the Military Academy in Sofia. Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov opened the forum saying that the State of Defence 2024 report and the report on the implementation of the Defence Investment Programme until 2032 have already been submitted to the National Assembly.

The event is attended by representatives of NATO, various ministries, academia and the private sector. US Embassy in Bulgaria's Chargé d'Affaires ad interim Susan Falatko was a guest speaker at the roundtable. Here's what was said within the panel on perspectives on sustainability.

NATO resilience department deputy director Rebecca Eastwick-Haskell spoke of the complexity of today's security environment, as well as the need to ensure and continue resilience efforts. She said that NATO is currently experiencing the greatest collective strengthening in decades. She said creating resilience is not just the job of the armed forces, but in a catastrophic event, requires the efforts of the entire population. The NATO representative gave the example of Ukraine, which after the war had to rely on all civilian structures to keep society functioning.

Deputy Transport Minister Dimitar Nedyalkov commented that two of the four main transport corridors prioritized by NATO pass through Bulgaria. He said the Ministry was working to build a sustainable infrastructure and network that could operate in all conditions. Nedyalkov focused on the vertical corridor between the Baltic, Black and Aegean seas. The Deputy Minister also mentioned the strategic transport Pan-European Corridor VIII, which should become a link between the ports of Italy and Bulgaria.

Deputy Energy Minister Georgi Samandov commented on Bulgaria's opportunities to develop its energy potential - the construction of hydropower plants and the exploitation of wind potential. He focused on investments in new technologies, grid connectivity and diversification.

Deputy Agriculture Minister Stoyan Toshev noted the need for the agricultural sector to develop compactly and to be ready to feed the population. He focused on the small producer and pointed out that direct payments to producers are not only aid but also investments to ensure food security.

Health Ministry Medical Activities Directorate Director Ivian Benishev said that the national health strategy places a major emphasis on maintaining and increasing the capacity of the health network, with a particular focus on emergency care. He added that each health facility is obliged to have its own plans for responses to disasters and multi-hit situations.

Foreign Ministry's ambassador-at-large for resilience building Irena Dimitrova spoke about countering the malicious spread of information. She pointed out that a training manual has been developed that allows government officials, NGO representatives, and others to be trained on basic skills to counter this type of information. According to her, positive presentation and promotion of institutions' activities to the public can prevent negative effects in a crisis on state structures.

/DS/