NEWS

President Rumen Radev Called for Using the Experience and Good Practices of the NATO Partners in Holding Public Tenders for the Acquisition of Armament and Military Equipment

The limited funds Bulgaria has allocated to the modernization of the Armed Forces requires that they be spent in the most efficient way. In this process NATO’s expertise and sharing the experience and good practices in holding public tenders for the acquisition of armament and equipment is of key importance for achieving maximum results. This is what President Rumen Radev said at a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg held at 2 Dondukov street today. This is yet another meeting between the two leaders after they held talks yesterday in the Slovak town of Kosice at the B9 summit.

The acquisition of contemporary defense capabilities is of key importance for Bulgaria’s security and for improving the interoperability of our country’s Armed Forces with NATO partners, Rumen Radev said. Apart from the three projects on modernizing the Bulgarian Air Forces, Land Forces and Naval Forces, the Head of State also highlighted the importance of smaller projects, which are essential to the building up of capable and flexible Armed Forces, having the capacity to operate in the Allies’ common information domain.

“Bulgaria continues to enhance its role as a pillar of security and stability in the Balkans and in the Black Sea region by pursuing an open, constructive and responsible policy,” Rumen Radev emphasized. Our country is strongly motivated to integrate its defense industry and science in implementing joint projects within NATO and expects to be encouraged by the Alliance to this end, the President added.

Bulgaria is a strategic partner guaranteeing the security in Southeastern Europe and the Black Sea region, Jens Stoltenberg said for his part and highlighted our country’s contribution to reinforcing the stability in the Western Balkans and to the Alliance’s different peacekeeping missions.

The two leaders shared the opinion that the efforts of the Republic of North Macedonia to establish good-neighborly relations should be supported and our western neighbor’s NATO accession is a good signal for the whole region. The opportunity to conduct more joint military exercises with the Western Balkan partners on Bulgarian territory was also discussed at the meeting.