site.btaBulgaria Steps Up Air Defence as NATO Consultations Continue, Caretaker Defence Minister Says

Caretaker Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov said on Thursday that the Defence Staff had activated forces and assets to strengthen the country’s air defence, following a meeting of the Security Council with the Council of Ministers of Bulgaria in connection with the conflict in the Middle East.

Responding to a question about measures taken to guarantee citizens’ security and protect the country, Zapryanov said the Chief of Defence had presented a separate report at the Security Council meeting outlining the specific steps taken to reinforce Bulgaria’s air defence system.

He added that the caretaker government was in contact with NATO and that a North Atlantic Council meeting scheduled for Friday would discuss air defence issues. Zapryanov said readiness within NATO’s missile defence system would also be increased and that Bulgaria would request additional reinforcement if NATO’s supreme command deemed it necessary to provide stronger missile and air defence guarantees. Decisions on these matters were expected to be taken on Friday.

The defence minister further said he was due to hold talks later in the day with Greece’s defence minister, while earlier in the morning he had discussed the situation in the Middle East with his Turkish counterpart.

At the briefing, caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gurov assured that Bulgaria was not directly threatened by the conflict in the Middle East.