site.btaDefence Minister: No one Can Guarantee Black Sea Region's Security without Bulgaria and Romania

In an interview for Agerpres published on Saturday, Bulgarian Defence Minister Dragomir Zakov said that no one can guarantee the security in the Black Sea region without Bulgaria and Romania. He noted that in the current situation in Ukraine, Bulgaria and Romania face common threats and challenges but also share a common destiny, in this case not only as neighbours but also as allies.

Zakov said he and his Romanian counterpart have agreed to hold regular meetings in the coming months. He put and emphasis on the excellent bilateral relations not only on the level of defence ministers but also at the government level. 

Taking a question about next week's vote in Parliament on the supply of Bulgarian arms to Ukraine, Zakov said that this is a very sensitive issue in his country. "We have to be fully aware that the propaganda, the disinformation, the attempt to confuse people is very strong," he noted. In his words, it is politicians' responsibility to ensure people fully understand what is behind such a decision, why it is important, and what the risks are. That is why the debate in Parliament is very essential, because the MPs will discuss the issue publicly and make a decision; then it will be up to the Government to implement the decision, he explained.

Zakov commented that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was absolutely right to say during his recent visit to Sofia that whoever does not provide Ukraine with weapons supports the Russian aggression in that country. In Zakov's words, there are many ways to assist Ukraine, which needs many different things. Sooner or later, a new stage will begin where Ukraine will need help to be reconstructed, he added.

"I think that the current circumstances in Ukraine clearly showed that the Black Sea region is an important region for Euro-Atlantic security and we have to be absolutely involved to strengthen this security. All of us, not only Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey but also NATO as a whole," Zakov said. He expressed the hope that this view will be shared by the allies at their meeting in June. 

Asked about Bulgaria's position on permanent military presence of NATO in eastern flank countries, Zakov said that "there are decisions on setting up battle groups on the eastern flank, and Bulgaria is one of the host nations of this kind of battle groups". In his words, Bulgaria is in the process of setting up such a group, with one company from the US already here and the UK being expected to come as well to strengthen this battle group. "We are working with Italy to participate as well and maybe become the framework nation of the battle group," he added.

Bulgaria is working very closely with Romania on this kind of measures, he went on to say. In the future, as it evolves further, the battle group will most probably be linked to Multinational Division Southeast, which is located in Romania and whose deputy commander is Bulgarian, Zakov told Agerpres.