site.btaDefence Minister Zapryanov Attends Munich Security Conference

Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov is participating in the 61st Munich Security Conference, which opened on Friday. For three days, heads of state and government, diplomats, leading representatives of international institutions and experts will discuss peace and security challenges, regional conflicts and crises, cybercrime, climate change and other topical issues in the Bavarian capital. 

Over the past six decades, the Munich Security Conference has established itself as one of the most important forums for meetings and discussions on security policy issues. 

On the first day of the forum, Minister Zapryanov met with David Baker, US Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for NATO and Europe. This is the first meeting of a representative of the Bulgarian government on defence issues with the new US administration, which was held on the initiative of the American side.

During the talks, the bilateral military and strategic cooperation between Bulgaria and the United States was highly commended and the progress achieved so far was underlined. Emphasis was placed on the modernization projects of the Bulgarian Armed Forces, which are being implemented mainly with the support of the US government and with the participation of US companies. Security issues in the Black Sea region and Russian aggression in Ukraine were also discussed. Both sides expressed their commitment to further develop bilateral military cooperation, including through exchanges of high-level visits.

Minister Zapryanov also met with Helmut Rauch - CEO of the German company Diehl Defence, with whom they discussed the opportunities for further development of the military-technical cooperation in connection with the implementation of the contract for the delivery of the IRIS-T anti-aircraft missile complexes. 

On the sidelines, Romanian Minister of Defence Angel Tilvar and Minister Zapryanov discussed topical issues of bilateral and regional cooperation in the light of the active membership of Bulgaria and Romania in NATO.