site.btaBulgaria Is Part of All Alliance Formats, Its Voice Matters - Foreign Minister

Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Georg Georgiev told reporters here on Friday that Bulgaria, as part of all alliance formats with presence in Southeast Europe, has an influential voice and is an essential factor in the overall decision-making process concerning Europe's defence and security. Georgiev was in Brussels for a two-day meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers at the Alliance's headquarters.

"We participate everywhere, our voice matters, we are a key factors in the overall sequence of decision-making concerning defence and security in Europe," he added. "Bulgaria, as a member of the EU and NATO, should participate, but that does not mean that it supports the sending of military presence in Ukraine, particularly during an active war," he underscored.

In his words, sometimes the so-called "coalition of the willing" is manipulatively assigned a meaning of sending soldiers to Ukraine. A lasting, stable, and fair peace is yet to be achieved in Ukraine, there are no parameters of such talks, no consensus on the topic that is valid for all EU and NATO countries, Georgiev argued.

"It is still early to talk, there is a decision of the National Assembly whether and how to approach the matter of sending presence in Ukraine. There is a lot more road ahead towards achieving the security in Europe that we want so much, related to an end to the war, an achievement of peace that would guarantee the security of Europe and the world," the Foreign Minister argued.

"We value the USA's efforts to achieve peace in Ukraine," he noted. In his words, for now Russia seems to be aiming for a lasting and fair peace. "That does not mean we will stop with the actions on our part," Georgiev told reporters.

According to him, the most important thing in the two-day meeting in Brussels is that the Alliance remains united. "Our most powerful weapon is being together and jointly sending the signals that the world expects from us: for stability and security," he added. "The Trans-Atlantic connection remains strong, the commitments to Article 5 [of the North Atlantic Treaty] were confirmed as well as our alliance relations. Regarding security in Europe and the world, that is extremely essential. We should make efforts to meet the global challenges," Georgiev said.

"The war in Ukraine and Russian aggression remain the most significant challenge to global security architecture, but that is the meaning of our cooperation and interaction," he said further. It is a common commitment to increase defence and security spending, all NATO countries are on this position, it corresponds to the Bulgarian position on the development of the country's defence capabilities, Georgiev noted.