EAPC Ministerial Brussels, 18 Dec. 1998

Talking Points Mr. Gueorgui Ananiev Minister of Defence of the Republic of Bulgaria Mr. Secretary General, Dear Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am absolutely sure that NATO can adequately respond to the current and future challenges in the field of security. The changes in the organisation, the security and stability orbits it generates through the EAPC and PfP more and more transform NATO from a defensive Alliance to an Alliance for the protection of common interests and values. Bulgaria continuously proves that it fully shares these values and interests and is ready ,in its capacity of a serious aspirant for NATO membership , to take its share of responsibilities for the protection of these values. Bulgaria shares the concern for the crisis in Kosovo and supports the efforts of the international community for its peace settlement. A concrete expression is the contribution of our country to NATO efforts aiming at finding an adequate political solution , including the direct participation through a special airplane in the air surveillance operation "Eagle Eye". We are ready to actively continue to support NATO actions in that direction. In the context of the crisis we appreciate the engagement of the NATO members with clear political guarantees for the security of the neighbouring partner countries. The co-operation in the critical situation provided a new impetus and dimensions of the partnership. In 1999 at the Washington Summit the member countries will define the respond the NATO member and the EAPC countries are ready to give to the security challenges. We are sure that the best respond is the further Enlargement of the Alliance. We expect : the persistent political will of Bulgaria for joining NATO, the progress achieved in the modernisation and democratisation of the institutions in the field of security and defence is taken into account; that our country will be particularly mentioned as a serious aspirant for membership in the Alliance and a country which has clear perspectives for membership; a comprehensive and efficient Membership Action Plan is approved, which will direct our co-operation with NATO to clearly defined activities, subordinate to a concrete pre-accession strategy. Bulgaria is particularly interested in: effective enlargement of the scope of the eventual NATO actions in cases of crisis, including those in South Eastern Europe; taking into account the new realities in the countries that are serious aspirants for membership and their readiness to undertake full mutual responsibilities for the peace and security; establishing the most favourable conditions for the participation of the Partners in all phases of the NATO lead PfP operations. The major military co-operation parameters in the context of our preparation for NATO membership are as follows : harmonisation of the defence planning process with that of NATO; increase of the readiness for action of those formations which are allocated for participation in PfP missions; establishing and reorganisation of military infrastructure sites for the needs of NATO operations; speeding up of the training of an optimum number of personnel on NATO standards and procedures. Within the framework of the adapted PARP Bulgaria will take part in the co-ordination and adoption of initial Partnership goals. I would like to point out that Bulgaria's readiness to join NATO has its real dimensions: we are taking part in the crisis settlement in the region by participating in SFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina with our fourth engineer platoon and with a transportation platoon; in the OSCE mission in Kosovo with 15 applying officers for the positions of observers of the military aspects; we recognise the importance of the regional co-operation as a key instrument in keeping the peace on the Balkans. We are actively participating in the establishment of a unique for our region form of co-operation - the Multinational Peacekeeping Forces South Eastern Europe comprising of 7 countries. Today we are co-operating so that we guarantee the security and peace in the region and to achieve high interoperability on human and technical level. We recognise the responsibility related to hosting the Forces' HQ during the first four year period. (A non paper will be circulated). At our last meeting I proposed to work together on the common modalities of multinational formations. We are satisfied with the initial steps in the realisation of this proposal. we join the initiative on establishing functional PfP Training Centres through establishing a Specialised Language Training Centre;(A non paper will be circulated) Bulgaria has sent its officers to take PSE positions and appreciates the possibility to exchange experience and education on NATO staff procedures. I would like to finish by welcoming the successful start, in October in Zurich, of the initiated by the USA and Germany PfP Consortium of Defence Academies and Security Studies Institutes and I would like to reiterate the readiness of the Republic of Bulgaria to host the annual meeting of the Consortium in 1999.( A non paper will be circulated) Thank you.