15 June 2026 | 18:06
Statement by Head of State Iliana Iotova
NEWS
President Radev: Modernisation of the Armed Forces Must Take into Account the New Realities in the Defence Sector
2024-06-26 19:02:00
The war in Ukraine has seriously changed not only the security architecture on a global scale, but also the way of conducting warfare, as well as the tactics and means used to implement operations. These new realities in the field of defence must be taken into account in the processes of modernisation of the armed forces and the conduct of joint exercises. This is what President Rumen Radev said at a meeting today with Stephen R Covington, Strategic and International Affairs Adviser to NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, who is on an official visit to Bulgaria at the invitation of the Chief of Defence.
Radev and Covington discussed the growing security risks in the wake of the Russian Federation's war in Ukraine, the transformation of NATO's capabilities over the years and the implementation of the Alliance's mission to guarantee the sovereignty and security of its member states. The head of state pointed out that the implementation of projects related to the improvement of logistics and those contributing to the acquisition of asymmetric and information superiority and the strengthening of interoperability are increasingly important for beefing up defence capabilities.
Bulgaria has invested significant financial resources in the major projects related to the modernisation of the Air Force, the Navy and the Ground Forces, but in order to match the defence capabilities to the modern trends, timely work should be done to introduce economically and financially beneficial projects with high efficiency and asymmetric effect, Rumen Radev said. In the President's words, an important factor in building defence capabilities is also the training of personnel and the motivation of service people.
For his part, Stephen Covington said that unity in efforts to strengthen NATO's defence and deterrence capabilities, as well as the Alliance's support to ensure the security of each member state, is of utmost importance in times of crises.
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