SPEECHES AND STATEMENTS

Statement Made by President Rosen Plevneliev at the Ceremony on Activating the NATO Force Integration Unit in the Republic of Bulgariarn

Esteemed Mr. Deputy Assistant of NATO Secretary-General,
Esteemed Mrs. Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Minister, Mrs. Deputy Minister,
Esteemed Assembly Deputies,
Your Excellencies,
Esteemed Mr. Chief of Defense,
Esteemed Generals, Admirals, Officers,
Dear Friends,

I address all politicians, diplomats, military and civil experts, who thanks to their hard work and dedication contributed to building and activating the NATO Force Integration Unit in Bulgaria. Today’s event is a clear proof of how correct the choice of values our country has made is, namely to be an active and worthy member of the Alliance.

We are experiencing difficult times and a combination of crises. The citizens expect from us to set collective security and defense as a strategic priority on which the politicians should reach an agreement and act in an efficient and nationally-responsible manner. Today we are facing the necessity to reconsider and adapt the vision for collective defense so as to guarantee a free, peaceful and united Europe. Freedom, democracy, the rule of law and human rights are a supreme value. Although freedom is priceless, it is not free. Freedom and democracy are not given for granted, they have to be defended every day. Russia’s actions in Eastern Ukraine, the illegal annexation of Crimea, the frozen yet smoldering conflicts next to our borders, the imminent threat from terrorist groups such an Islamic State further burden our joint efforts to protect our sovereignty and democratic statehood by developing capabilities for a reliable deterrence of threats of any kind.

The fact that NATO Force Integration Units are opened in six European capitals, including Sofia, is a categorical proof of the commitment and solidarity of the Alliance to protect all its members adhering to the principle “28 in support of 28.” These headquarters will be the link between the national and allied armies when they conduct joint military exercises and trainings, as well as to ensure, in terms of logistics and infrastructure, the deployment of forces with a high degree of readiness to deal with emergencies threatening the security and territorial integrity of the member states’ eastern flank, including Bulgaria.

As a host country, we assume our responsibility guided by the understanding of the need to protect the common values. We support our common aspiration to ensure security, democratic development and the rule of law in Europe. We will decisively oppose any plan to create instability, frozen conflicts and destabilization.

NATO is a defense alliance of democratic states. The fact that we are a defense alliance does not mean that we are indecisive and passive. On the contrary! Today we are demonstrating our determination and high degree of readiness for action. We are improving and increasing our defense and counteracting capabilities. We wish peace, but we can guarantee peace only with our determination to resist any destructive action and attempt to destroy the international legal order.

NATO is a unique alliance in which everyone is important and everyone may and should contribute to collective security. We will build adequate capabilities to protect the sovereignty and our territorial integrity. We will do it together with our allies by taking purposeful, transparent and proportional actions in compliance with the international norms. Therefore in April, under my initiative, the Consultative Council for National Security was held and discussed defense issues. Together with all political parties represented in parliament, with the exception of the BSP and Ataka, we reached a broad consensus that all investments in the defense capabilities from now on should be in compliance with the principle to considerably increase the interoperability with our NATO partners. Practically this means that the servicemen should no longer procure new capabilities from non-NATO arms manufacturers. Otherwise they would disregard the legitimate decision of the highest security authority in the country.. Finally Bulgaria speeded up it interoperability with the partners and drastically reduced its dependence on Russian armament. As the first result of this important decision made by the Consultative Council for National Security, the Defense Ministry entrusted our Polish friends with the maintenance and modernization of the MiG 29 aircraft so as to ensure interoperability with the partners.  This is the way we should act with respect to all other priority projects for building capabilities of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. They can be efficient only if interoperability with the NATO partners is ensured. Therefore we reached an agreement at the Consultative Council for National Security that the Council of Ministers should submit a Program for the development of the defense capabilities of the Republic of Bulgaria’s Armed Forces to the National Assembly for debate and approval. On the basis of the adopted Program, the Council of Ministers should develop a new Plan for the development of the Republic of Bulgaria’s Armed Forces, which should come into force by the end of the year.

We agreed that the executive and legislative branches of government should ensure adhering to the principle of non-reduction of the funds for defense as a percent of the GDP compared to 2014 and their gradual increase until they reach 2 percent of the GDP within a decade, with the exception of 2015, taking into account the contingent expenditure during the year.

Dear friends,

I would once again like to thank everyone for the efforts pooled and the dedication to collective defense. Only together can we face the challenges. Only together can we overcome any crisis.

Thank you and wish you luck!