Bulgarian proposals included in NATO’s Strategic Concept
14 October 2010 News
Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov, on behalf of the Bulgarian government, congratulated the NATO secretary general for the successful preparation of the new Strategic Concept of the Alliance, and expressed Bulgaria’s assuredness that the new concept would be adopted at the Lisbon Summit. Mladenov and the Minister of Defence Anyu Angelov were participants in the ministerial meeting of NATO, held in Brussels.
The NATO secretary general, in his opening speech at the press briefing, reiterated that the Alliance is about to take significant decisions. He also pointed out that the countries were to decide at the ministerial meeting, as well as at the Lisbon Summit how NATO would be shaped and directed in the next decade and to prove that a modern defence is put in place, fully capable of confronting new threats. The secretary general referred to the anti-missile defence as part of the effort, and said that NATO could and should continue to develop its defence capacity against the threat of missile attack. A discussion was also held on the proposal for a new command structure of NATO, which should be streamlined, more efficient, and more cost-effective in view of the available resources.
The speeches of the two Bulgarian ministers underscored that all proposals furnished by Bulgaria were included in the presented draft of the new Strategic Concept—particularly those relating to the critical role of Article 5 [of the North Atlantic Treaty] on the collective security of the Allies, energy security, the open-door policy, and the response to new threats. Minister Mladenov outlined the key task of achieving better coordination between NATO and the EU, in order to avoid duplication of functions, costs, and resources. The foreign minister stated that the countries of the Western Balkans should not remain outside the Euro-Atlantic security zone. Minister Angelov, on his part, expressed his confidence that the anti-missile defence system would be embraced as a common NATO mission. Both ministers were explicit in saying ‘Anti-missile defence should not divide NATO and Russia; quite the opposite, it should be a stimulus for mutual trust and reciprocal openness’.