The strategic partnership between Bulgaria and the US is the basis for taking more intensive actions to cope with the common challenges security is facing. This is what President Rosen Plevneliev said at a meeting held at 2 Dondukov street with Anthony Blinken, US Deputy Secretary of State, who is on a working visit to Bulgaria. The Head of State highlighted that under the conditions of a myriad of crises in Bulgaria’s neighboring countries in the region, Bulgaria remains a predictable and reliable ally and is a key factor of stability in Southeastern Europe.
“The Bulgarian institutions will continue working so as to implement the 9 projects on the modernization of the Armed Forces. The project on acquiring a new type of fighter aircraft is the highest priority,” the President said and called on for the NATO partners’ active support in this process. “A decision was made at the Consultative Council for National Security to gradually increase the defense budget to 2 percent of the GDP in 2024 and Bulgaria is determined to fulfill this commitment,” Rosen Plevneliev further assured.
The changed security environment makes it necessary to increase the defense capabilities of the Bulgarian Armed Forces, the President was adamant and highly appreciated the US contribution to guaranteeing European security. The Head of State hailed the decision made by the US government to increase the funding of different projects in the defense sector to 3,4 billion US dollars in 2017, within the framework of the US initiative on guaranteeing the security of the allies in Europe. Rosen Plevneliev called on for ensuring equal security for all member states of NATO’s eastern flank.
Anthony Blinken voiced the determination of the US to defend the security of all of its allies in Europe and emphasized that this will also be confirmed at the forthcoming NATO summit in Warsaw. The importance of the security situation in the Black Sea region was highlighted. In Rosen Plevneliev’s opinion, the effective utilization of the joint Bulgarian-US facilities and the military airports that meet the NATO standards, are an important component of the joint efforts of the Alliance in the region.
President Plevneliev and Deputy Secretary of State Blinken shared the position that the joint Bulgarian-US working groups in the security and defense sector, energy security, rule of law, fight against terrorism and education sectors strengthen the strategic dialogue between the two countries and have already produced concrete results. Anthony Blinken highly appreciated the Bulgarian public’s strong commitment and the government’s political will to successfully complete the reform in the judiciary.
The two shared the opinion that signing the final investment decision for building the gas inter-connector between Bulgaria and Greece is a contribution to achieving a real diversification of the natural gas supplies not only to Bulgaria, but also to the Southeast European region. This inter-connector will provide Bulgaria the opportunity to receive natural gas supplies from the Caspian Sea region through the South Gas Corridor. An expression of Bulgaria’s serious commitment to the inter-connector with Greece is the increased state guarantee worth 110 million euros, planned in the 2016 budget. Our country also shows interest in taking part in the project on building a liquefied gas terminal near Alexandroupolis, which will ensure the natural gas supply for the vertical South-North corridor.
