To what extent the budget of Republic of Bulgaria for 2013 will help fulfill the short term and the long term goals of the Bulgarian defense policy? Here is what Minister Angelov said in an interview for RB:

“The money from the national budget will definitely be enough for the purposes of the Bulgarian army in 2013," Minister Angelov said. "We have to find funds to comply with all the contracts, signed for the modernization of the Bulgarian army. These contracts envisage the modernization of the military aircraft avionics. We should do this in order to clear frequencies for digital television and a new type of GPS system. The next problem is related to the so-called Stationary Communication System for the Bulgarian Army entitled Strandja 2. We will allocate as much funds as we can in this sphere. However, all military purposes of the Bulgarian army will be paid with funds from the budget for 2013”, said Minister Angelov.

Bulgaria has to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by end 2014. How the ministry will manage to provide the specific training of the Bulgarian army after this withdrawal?

“A new initiative entitled Joint Forces will replace the current training of the troops from all 49 countries which take part in the ISAAF mission in Afghanistan. This initiative will contribute to the increase of the joint trainings and we are working actively in this direction. Each year we increase the number, the quality and the scope of the multinational practices, where the Bulgarian armed forced take place. This will fully substitute all military practices during missions abroad," says the Bulgarian Defense Minister.

Are you worried about the current Syrian conflict? Are Bulgaria and its allies going to take action in this respect?

“We have many times condemned the violence in Syria brought by the Bashar Assad’s regime. Bulgaria and all countries from NATO condemned the shooting over civilians at Turkish territory by Syrian troops. We think that Turkey has the full right to defend its citizens. However NATO is not preparing any action in Syria. The Secretary General of the alliance has also confirmed this statement. It is a matter of economic sanctions, diplomatic efforts and political will to solve this problem. None of the military actions in the past solved such conflict. So the decision should be political, rather than a military one”, the Bulgarian Minister of Defense reiterated.

Minister Angelov specified that participations in foreign missions are based on the decision of the North Atlantic Council. However, there is no such decision for the moment. In his words it is unclear what could happen in the future in respect to the Syrian conflict.

Meanwhile, the Interdepartmental Council on NATO resumed its work. The Council has extended its authority related to the Bulgarian engagements within the EU Common Security and Defense Policy and the need of stronger co-ordination in its action in both unions, said the Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov. Issues regarding the participation of Bulgarian civil experts in international crisis management missions have been discussed at the first sitting of the council. According to Anyu Angelov, as of 2012, due to the so-called Comprehensive Approach, all options for civil participations of Bulgarians in the NATO missions will be outlined.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov