site.btaUPDATED PM Denkov Commits to Upgrade Battle Group in Bulgaria to Brigade Level

Bulgaria must upgrade its own armed forces, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov said on Tuesday after the end of the first day of the NATO forum in Lithuania.

This means additional weaponry, including the 16 F-16 Block 70 aircraft, the two multi-purpose ships, providing armoured vehicles for the infantry to cover the entire spectrum - air, sea and land, Denkov said. This includes upgrading the multinational battle group in Bulgaria. "We are committed to upgrading it to brigade level, which means additional forces to be provided," he told a briefing for Bulgarian journalists.

Denkov said the decision on the three regional defence plans that were approved by NATO, and one of them concerns the Black Sea and Mediterranean areas, were important and that there had not been such plans since the Cold War. "They show precisely that the risk of escalation must be taken seriously. But I want to make it clear that the drawing up of these plans and the building up of the fighting forces is in fact only defensive and deterrent," the prime minister added. "When such forces are available, any aggressor would think about whether he would want to take risks in this regard," he added.

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According to Denkov, the risk of the war spreading from Ukraine to NATO member states is now extremely low. Much more serious is the situation in the Western Balkans, where there is strong Russian influence. "We must be aware that the dangers we are talking about are overwhelmingly caused by the same source," he said.