12.07.2023
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) needs some time to assess what to put into the second military aid package for Ukraine. This is what Defense Minister Todor Tagarev said as he spoke to media after the NATO Summit in Vilnius.
The second package will be similar to the first one in terms of substance and size as supplied by the caretaker cabinet. “It is important that the delivery is well-timed. While it is tailored to Ukraine’s needs, first of all we consider our army’s needs,” Prime Minister Acad. Nikolai Denkov said. From what remains, Bulgaria can send ammunitions or other items that figure on the list handed over by President Zelenskyy.
Military aid to Ukraine was not discussed at the Vilnius Summit. It was a discussion at political level about Ukraine’s accession to NATO. Ukraine received full support from the NATO member states, which made a specific commitment to its accession to the Alliance. The Prime Minister highlighted three decisions to that effect. The most important of these is the NATO-Ukraine Council that was launched where the President of Ukraine and the Heads of State and Government of the Allies sit as equal participants. The second decision simplifies and shortens the path to the accession to the Alliance as the candidate country has made most of the steps. The third decision is the sizeable economic and military support for Ukraine for which the G7 countries made a commitment.
The Prime Minister found the discussion with the Heads of State of Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Republic of Korea interesting and useful. He specially emphasized that “China is not seen as an enemy. Indeed, it is a rival in business with who we must seek overlapping areas where we may operate jointly.”
Defense Minister Todor Tagarev explained that it is planned for the national battlegroup deployed in the territory of Bulgaria to be able to be enhanced up to brigade size though this would not follow immediately. The goal is to put in place the logistics infrastructure and all that is needed for the maintenance in the country and to make it clear which divisions and units of our allies will arrive in Bulgaria, to engage in scheduled exercises and in command and staff exercises and interaction with units. Thus, when there is a need for, our battlegroup can be enhanced up to brigade size. “For the time being, we are not considering a fully staffed brigade to be deployed in Bulgaria,” the Defense Minister assured.
Todor Tagarev noted that the level of situational awareness should be promoted. Thus, “in the event of a threat, we will know about it long enough before it occurs so as to proceed with the manning of the units that are planned to be deployed in Bulgaria.”
The deterrence measures and the defense in the Black Sea have been consequentially implemented since the NATO Summit in Warsaw where the package of enhanced forward presence and adaptation presence in the Black Sea region was launched, said Admiral Emil Evtimov, Chief of Defense. “Since then, they have evolved and now they are applied in the air, land, sea, cyberspace and even Outer Space,” he added.
