Bulgaria’s Armed Forces Must Be Prepared for Any Type of Threat – Foreign Minister
Defense | June 26, 2015, Friday // 11:32| viewsBulgaria's Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov, photo by BGNES
The topic of the deployment of US military equipment on Bulgarian territory is exploited by political parties which do not work in our national interest, according to Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov.
Mitov assured that US tanks and heavy weaponry would arrive in Bulgaria only for the purpose of trainings.
In a Friday interview for Nova TV, he said that keeping the army on standby was in line with Bulgaria’s national interest.
He explained that these trainings were meant to prepare Bulgaria’s Armed Forces for any type of threat.
“A propaganda war is underway. How can you otherwise account for the fact that we have had over 200 trainings over the past few years without anybody noticing and now we have to explain for each and every training,” Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister declared.
He underscored that these trainings brought together, Bulgarian, US, Romanian, Albanian, British, and German troops.
Mitov informed that trainings of this type were preceded by talks and there was a strict plan for their organization which was followed.
He noted that it was up to Bulgaria’s Defense Ministry to announce the type and amount of military equipment that would arrive in Bulgaria, as well as the time of arrival.
Mitov also drew attention to the decisions taken at the 2014 Wales summit of NATO, reminding that it had been agreed that the Alliance would launch the so-called Readiness Action Plan due to the complex geopolitical environment and the conflict on NATO's eastern flank.
Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister said that these decisions implied that more trainings had to be held to enhance the preparedness of the armed forces.
He underscored the need to keep an army prepared, especially when there was a conflict near a country’s borders, adding that he did not mean the conflict in Ukraine only but also the case of the Islamic State.
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