site.btaUPDATED Bulgaria Vows Continued Support for Ukraine, Says NATO Should Go Beyond Bucharest Decisions in Relations with Ukraine

During the NATO-Ukraine Commission meeting in Brussels on June 15, Bulgarian Defence Minister Todor Tagarev vowed his country's continued support for Ukraine and said NATO should go beyond the Bucharest decisions and foster relations with Ukraine at a higher strategic level, the Defence Ministry said in a press release.

"Our government will continue to provide valuable practical support to Ukraine for as long as it is needed," said Tagarev during the NATO-Ukraine Commission meeting.

It took place on the margins of the NATO Defence Ministers' meeting in Brussels, to discuss long-term political and practical support for Ukraine and NATO-EU cooperation in this process. This topic was also the focus of discussions during the Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting. It was hosted by the US Secretary of Defense. Minister Tagarev participated in it together with the Bulgarian Chief of Defence Admiral Emil Eftimov.

Accession to NATO's ammunition warehousing initiative

Also on Thursday, Bulgaria, together with Denmark, Germany and Luxembourg joined NATO’s Multinational Ammunition Warehousing Initiative (MAWI). MAWI plays a key role for enabling the pre-positioning of adequate munition stockpiles in support of NATO’s multinational battlegroups on the Alliance’s eastern flank.

Defence Minister Tagarev held brief meetings with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and with Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, said also his Ministry. 

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg congratulated Minister Tagarev on his assumption of office.