Inside Bulgaria's Easter Celebrations: Traditions Passed Through Generations
Today marks the joyous celebration of Easter, one of the most significant holidays in the Orthodox Christian calendar.
Bulgaria needs to update its defence spending in 2015 to meet its pledge to improve military capabilities made at NATO’s Wales summit in September, President Rosen Plevneliev said on Thursday.
Speaking at a joint news conference in Sofia with visiting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Plevneliev said that Bulgaria has pledged to gradually increase defence outlays by adopting the programme “Bulgaria in NATO and in European Defence 2020”.
The programme includes seven priority projects for the modernization of Bulgarian Armed Forces.
“Investing in defence will keep Bulgaria safe, and it will keep NATO strong,” Stoltenberg said.
Plevneliev said Bulgaria relies on the support of its NATO partners for the modernization of its armed forces in order to reduce its dependence on a single source for the supply and maintenance of arms and military equipment.
“Achieving operational compatibility of the Bulgarian Army with the armies of our NATO Allies is a mandatory requirement for the efficient conducting of joint missions. This is a priority task for the Bulgarian Parliament, government and President,” said Plevneliev, quoted by his press office.
Referring to the importance of implementing the Alliance’s Readiness Action Plan in light of challenges to the east and south of NATO, Stoltenberg said it will “make our forces more ready and better able to respond to challenges from any direction”.
Looking at the importance of NATO’s high readiness force and planned command and control elements in the east of the Alliance, Stoltenberg added that “Bulgaria has an important role to play.”
“Bulgaria is a strategic ally and partner of NATO in southeast Europe”, the Alliance chief said, highlighting the country’s stabilizing role in the region situated close to a number of crisis hotspots in the Middle East, North Africa and Ukraine.
He thanked Bulgaria for supporting the integration of the western Balkans into the EU and NATO structures and leading a trust fund on medical rehabilitation of wounded Ukrainian servicemen.
We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!
Bulgaria's Defense Minister, Atanas Zapryanov, affirmed that the reintroduction of mandatory conscription is not under consideration amidst the country's ongoing efforts to modernize its armed forces and enhance military personnel remuneration.
In response to ongoing staffing challenges within the Bulgarian army, the caretaker government is exploring alternative solutions, with military training for security personnel emerging as a potential strategy
Bulgaria's Parliament has taken a significant step towards acquiring eight multi-role F-16 Block 70 aircraft and associated support by ratifying Amendment No. 2 to the Letter of Agreement (LOA) BU-D-SAB.
In an announcement made on Friday, Flotilla Admiral Georgi Penev, Deputy Commander of the Bulgarian Navy, revealed plans for significant upgrades and modernization within the naval forces
Specialists from the United States have conducted an inspection of the repair work at Bulgaria's air base near Graf Ignatievo
Vazovsky Machine Building Plants (VMZ) in Sopot have achieved a remarkable milestone, recording a staggering BGN 828 million in net sales revenue for the year 2023, doubling compared to the previous year
UN Happiness Report: Bulgaria's Astonishing Leap in Rankings
Bulgaria: 3 Regions With Lowest Life Expectancy - EU Report 2022