Experts Discuss Bulgaria's Vision for NATO Summit in June

Dimitrina Solakova, Nikolay Trifonov

Discussion on "The Hague 2025: The Horizon for NATO and the Bulgarian Vision", Sofia, April 25, 2025 (BTA Photo/Nikola Uzunov)

Sofia,

25.04.2025 14:33

(BTA)

At a discussion here on Friday, experts talked about Bulgaria's vision for the NATO Summit to be held in The Hague in June. The discussion was held to present the publication "Living Archives. National Archive of Memories of Bulgaria's NATO Accession Process," printed with the BTA's LIK typeface.

Participants in the discussion included Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov, Diplomatic Institute head Tanya Mihaylova, Deputy Foreign Minister Elena Shekerletova, former president Petar Stoyanov (1997-2002), former foreign minister Nadezhda Neynski (1997-2001), Atlantic Club of Bulgaria President Solomon Passy, former defence minister Velizar Shalamanov (2014), and Sofia Security Forum head Yordan Bozhilov.

Neynski said that Bulgaria could and should be an active NATO member. The country's position for the upcoming summit should be very well argued and based on Bulgaria's strengths, so that it can be recognised not only as a formal member of NATO, but as an active and meaningful member, which should be part of the solutions, not part of the problems, Neynski argued. In her words, there are several question marks at the moment, but there is one thing that is clear: the consensus on who the common enemy is seems to have disappeared. There is an attempt to rearrange the world order, and quite boldly and dramatically. The US is seeking, at least publicly, a deal with Russia on Ukraine, Neynsky noted.

Passy, who served as Bulgaria's foreign minister from 2001 to 2005, said that a big discussion for the European Union is whether the EU will use the situation in the White House to consolidate and expand the Union. "Will we be able to bring Canada in, will we be able to bring the UK back, will Switzerland join the EU, can we bring Greenland into the EU. These are questions that go beyond the imagination that we are confronted with on a daily basis in a governmental mindset," said Passy. "We should unconditionally support Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov for the increase in defence spending, Passy said. "Bulgaria is the most immediate victim of Russian and other propaganda. Propaganda in Bulgaria is gaining ground like nowhere else in the EU," he argued.

Shalamanov, former head of the NATO Communications and Information Agency's Supervisory Board (2019-2021), said that one of the main goals of the information war that Russia is waging is to divide the US and Europe and possibly confront them. "Deterrence first is based on resilience. It is no coincidence that this year's NATO resilience exercise will be in Bulgaria. Our country has a lot to contribute in the field of resilience. And in physical infrastructure, but especially in the information space. Everything we talk about deterrence, defence, industry, technology will be ruined if we lose the information war," Shalamanov said.

Bozhilov said that Europe was not preparing for war because the assumption was that there would be missions, mostly outside Europe, to address security issues. "We did not take proper account of what was going on - now we have war and a rethinking of the American commitment to Europe. We need to start thinking about the defence of Europe," the Sofia Security Forum head argued.

/RY/