The Foreign Policy, Security and Defense Committee of the Bulgarian Parliament discussed at a meeting on September 26 the parameters of the reform in the Bulgarian Army. Defense Minister Nikolai Svinarov and Chief of the Bulgarian General Staff General Miho Mihov attended the meeting of the committee. The meeting continued more than three hours. `We discussed the military, technical and political coordination for Bulgaria`s preparation to become a NATO member,` Mihov said. `The coordination is yet at expert level,` he added. According to Mihov, NATO sent a message with both positive assessments and recommendations for the current stage of the reform. The Chief of the Bulgarian General Staff said that NATO`s notes concerned the size of the mobilization resource of the army and the number of military aircraft. `A process for constant reform in the armed forces to comply with the requirements and expectations of our future allies in NATO is forthcoming,` Stanimir Ilchev, Chairman of the Parliamentary Foreign Policy, Security and Defence Committee said. He added that many of the processes in Plan 2004 should be accelerated. `The plan envisages unpopular measures,` Ilchev said. According to him, it is not possible to preserve the current ratio between the junior and senior officers. `For me the meeting was very useful. It confirmed the absolute consensus to undertake all necessary measures to meet the NATO criteria,` Defense Minister Svinarov said.

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