site.btaInternational Conference in Sofia Looks at “New Realities in Foreign Policy, Defence, and Defence Industry”

The re-armament of the European Union and the challenges facing NATO were discussed on Tuesday at an international conference in Sofia titled “New Realities in Foreign Policy, Defence, and the Defence Industry.” The event was organized by the Sofia-based Center for Development and Policies.

Bulgaria’s former chief of defence Konstantin Popov said in his opening remarks that the conference coincides with meetings of EU ministers of defence and foreign affairs and a related European Parliament discussion, and comes a month before the NATO Summit in The Hague.

Philip Breedlove, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said Russian President Vladimir Putin obviously understands what it would mean to cross the NATO border and invade the bloc. Therefore, the retired US general is happy that NATO maintains a capability level which tells Putin: “You don’t want to do that.” However, Breedlove said, conventional deterrence beyond NATO is zero. With Putin waging a war in Ukraine and hybrid wars in Georgia and Moldova, and given some goings-on in Nagorno-Karabakh, NATO needs to restore its deterrence in these regions, Breedlove argued.

MP Dimitar Gardev (There Is Such a People) said it is necessary to build new weapon systems. He said: “Bulgaria firmly supports NATO’s decisions about increasing the defence spending to GDP ratio. Bulgaria needs to promptly re-arm its Armed Forces.” According to Gardev, Sofia has reservations about re-allocating money from the EU Cohesion Fund, agriculture policy facilities and the programme for the regions. He noted that Bulgaria and Romania are among the largest beneficiaries of such aid, and defence plans should not come at the expense of these programmes. Strong defence requires a strong economy and well-developed regions, Gardev insisted.

Foreign Ministry Permanent Secretary Ivan Kondov finds it quite possible that Bulgaria, the EU and NATO will face a new decade of instability, and they need to be prepared for that. Kondov said the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East are the two main conflicts which affect European security.

He went on to say: “Within the EU, Bulgaria remains active in every way. Bulgaria and Romania deserve credit for initiating the adoption of a strategy for the Black Sea. We hope it materializes in the middle of this year.” Kondov stressed the importance of cooperation between the EU and NATO. He called for the development of military mobility.

Kondov said: “One of the military transport and economic corridors which are most important to us is Corridor 8, where, regrettably, we are confronted by the reluctance of the Republic of North Macedonia to develop this corridor. We hear nothing but accusations that Bulgaria has done nothing. It often happens that we are discreet and cautious about our relations [with North Macedonia] as we don’t want to undermine them in any way, although they are not very good as they are. The part [of Corridor 8] left to build on the Bulgarian side is just about 2 km long and can be built very quickly. It is already on the programme of our government. There is a 23 km stretch on the Norh Macedonia side which is not ready at all.”

Former Deputy Foreign Minister and former Deputy Economy Minister Milen Keremedchiev recalled that 10 years ago, when Russia invaded Crimea, the EU ignored the writing on the wall. Up until the present day, the Russian defence budget is double the size of the defence budget of the NATO member states, he said.