The Netherlands is ready to help Bulgaria with the training of Bulgarian pilots for the F-16 fighter jets. The news was announced by the Minister of Defense Dimitar Stoyanov after the EU Council meeting in Brussels.

The minister also pointed out that Bulgaria would participate with both personnel and equipment in the training of Ukrainian military personnel within the framework of the EU's military assistance mission for Ukraine. Bulgaria will train 60 Ukrainians as army medical orderlies, BNR correspondent Angelina Piskova reported from Brussels. "I cannot comment at the moment what exactly the equipment will be for the simple reason that it is yet to be clarified," Stoyanov said and added that he was skeptical that after 2023 it would be possible for the MiG-29 aircraft of the Bulgarian Air Force to be kept in operational readiness.