site.btaUPDATED Defence Ministers of Bulgaria, Turkiye, Romania Sign Letter of Intent in Brussels

Caretaker Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov Friday took part in a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels, his ministry reported. Outside the official programme of the meeting, Zapryanov participated in a ceremony of signing a Letter of Intent for the establishment of a harmonized military mobility corridor between Bulgaria, Romania and Turkiye.

At an official ceremony, Romania joined the Letter of Intent between Albania, Bulgaria, Italy and North Macedonia on the establishment of a harmonized military mobility corridor between their countries within the framework of Pan-European Transport Corridor 8, which was signed by the defence ministers at the Washington Summit. These corridors will contribute to enhancing NATO's deterrence and defence capabilities, cooperation between the countries in the field of military mobility, strengthening transport connectivity between them as a key factor in boosting the economic development of the region, as well as deepening NATO-EU cooperation.

Speaking at the NATO Defence Ministers' meeting, Zapryanov said, "We are in times of renewed focus on collective defence, which requires more forces, capabilities and investment in defence in order to implement defence plans." Minister Zapryanov focused on strengthening NATO's deterrence and defence capabilities and taking practical steps to increase resilience against hybrid threats and malign influence. He said that a consensus is emerging in the country on the need to increase defence spending and bring it up to 2.5% of GDP. In his remarks, the Defence Minister referred to the important role of the Key Concept of Combat Employment and the NATO Concept of Deterrence and Defence in the Euro-Atlantic Area in the development and use of the military instrument of power and in effectively addressing multidirectional security threats, stressing the importance of their full and timely implementation.

The regular meeting of the Defence Ministers of NATO member states began on October 17.