Bulgaria to Participate in EU Afghanistan Police Mission

Bulgaria's Defense Minister, Nikolay Mladenov, says the country must overcome its “local” way of thinking that threats to national security come only from its neighbors. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

Bulgaria is seriously considering sending at least one representative to take part in the European Union police mission in Afghanistan.

The information was reported Monday by Bulgaria's Defense Minister, Nikolay Mladenov, who attended a meeting organized by the European Council for Foreign policy in Sofia, titled “The European Security and Defense Policy and the Challenges for the Civil Capabilities of Bulgaria.”

The Minister said his staff was currently holding talks with the Foreign Ministry regarding the matter.

The EUPOL Afghanistan goal is to assist the Afghani government in building a police force respecting human rights and in reforming the Kabul Ministries of Interior and Justice. The mission, launched as an upgrade of a German pilot project, in June 2007 has a budget of EUR 64 M. It was planned that 400 policemen would be recruited for it from the EU but it recruited only 280.

Mladenov said Monday that despite the reduced defense budget, the funds for the missions abroad will remain intact, adding that duplicative activities in NATO and EU missions must be, however, eliminated.

“We need to overcome this “local” Bulgarian way of thinking that the threats to our national security come only from our neighbors, something that will take lost of time and resources,” the Minister said.

 

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