Bulgaria will be setting no deadline for withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan, Defense Minister Anyu Angelov said.

Angelov opened Tuesday a conference entitled "Europe for Afghanistan: from Understanding to Support," held in the Military Club in the Bulgarian capital.

"Unlike other participants in the ISAF mission, including NATO member states, Bulgaria is not setting any deadlines for pulling out from Afghanistan. We will remain in Afghanistan as long as there is a mandate of the UN Security Council for the coalition forces, and until there is an unanimous decision for withdrawal by NATO," Angelov declared.

He said that 7% of the budget of the Bulgarian Defense Ministry goes for the Afghanistan mission, and that the Ministry saw Bulgaria's contribution to ISAF as "significant".

Gen. Angelov also pointed out that by the end of 2010, Bulgarian troops in Afghanistan will surpass 600 (they are 536 at present), situation in three regions – security units in Kandahar and Kabul, and medics in Helmand. Bulgaria also has a military police unit in Afghanistan.

"We have provided the Afghanistan security forces with a certain amount of weapons, ammunition, medicines, and other supplies," he said.

Angelov did refute any rumors that Bulgaria might double its forces in Afghanistan but he did mention that all Bulgarian forces could be consolidated in one region, a possibility discussed for the past two years.

The minister cited NATO Secretary-General Rasmussen as saying that military efforts are not enough, and that a successful international mission in Afghanistan would require a comprehensive approach.

Angelov stressed the importance of the NATO-EU partnership to that end. He mentioned that Bulgaria has one military police officer as part of the EUPOL Afghanistan mission, and urged deepening of the democratic process in the Central Asian country.

The Defense Minister said that the white paper on defense that the Bulgarian Parliament will be adopting later this week provides for a total of 37 000 troops in the Bulgarian armed forces in 2014; of these no fewer than 26 000 will be in the Army, i.e. land forces.

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