Moldovan-Bulgarian Meeting on Defense Issue

CHISINAU, May 27, 2016 — Minister of Defense Anatol Salaru met with his Bulgarian counterpart Nikolay Nenchev, at the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense HQ, on May 26, 2016.

The discussions were centered on issues regarding the regional security, with a focus on the expansionist policies of some countries and the hybrid war phenomenon, as well as the current stage and future prospects of military cooperation between the two institutions.

During the meeting, Anatol Salaru stated that the hybrid war affected the society, as well as the defense and security sector of the Republic of Moldova.

The Minister of Defense mentioned Moldova’s availability to expand the possibilities of bilateral cooperation, with a focus on the interoperability between the soldiers of National and the Bulgarian Armies. In this sense, an example could be the joint Moldovan-Romanian committee, a platform for dialogue between the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Moldova and the Ministry of National Defense of Romania that contributes to the development of bilateral relations.

Anatol Salaru specified that Moldova counts on Bulgaria’s support in implementing some of NATO projects which Moldova is part of — “Defense Capacity Building Initiative” and “Interoperability Platform” — in the framework of NATO Summit in Warsaw.

The Bulgarian Minister of Defense said that his country shares Moldova’s concerns regarding the Russian hybrid war and its impact on regional security. Nikolay Nenchev mentioned that Bulgaria is preparing a conference on this topic, aiming to convey the message on the major negative effects of this phenomenon and the ways to counteract it.

The official expressed the Bulgarian availability to share its expertise in deterring the hybrid war, a subject that will be on top of NATO security agenda and will be discussed at the Warsaw Summit.

Nikolay Nenchev invited National Army soldiers to participate in joint training and exercises in Bulgarian training centers. The official also mentioned the availability of Bulgarian troops to train within multinational exercises in the Republic of Moldova.

At the end of the meeting, the Ministers agreed that the two Defense institutions will continue to cooperate in the areas of military education, military medicine, and will study the possibilities to extend cooperation established by experts during working groups.