NATO DefMins to Discuss Eastern Europe Deployment

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and other NATO countries' defense ministers are set to meet in Brussels to work on plans for sending heavy weapons to six Eastern European states.

The move is aimed at prevention against what the alliance sees as Russia's potential "aggression" in Eastern Europe following the developments in Ukraine.

Bulgaria is also among the six countries where tanks and artillery units are due to be stationed, though no specific details are available so far.

On Tuesday Defense Minister Nikolay Nenchev explained he had not received yet a definitive proposal about the deployment, and President Rosen Plevneliev said last week there were no concrete plans to go on with. However, Ashton Carter made clear during a Tallinn visit that Sofia had consented to receiving equipment.

All equipment that will be sent here will be used for drills and will help boost the the Bulgarian Armed Forces' capabilities, Novinite's Bulgarian-language website quotes Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov as saying.

The plans however have already prompted the opposition to demand clarifications, arguing all the information submitted so far is "vague".

Defense expenditures, measures against hybrid warfare, and steps to set up crisis response forces will also be on the agenda of the Brussels meeting which will be held Wednesday and Thursday. Alliance officials claim the structure is on demand due to the need to swiftly address new challenges.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!