Commander NATO Special Operations Headquarters (NSHQ), Lieutenant General Eric P. Wendt paid a three-day visit to Bulgaria Dec 16-18.

During his visit, Lieutenant General Wendt had an executive meeting with the Deputy Defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov, the Chief of Defense Admiral Emil Eftimov and the Commander of the Joint Special Operations Command, Major General Iavor Mateev.

The meetings focused on the development of the Bulgarian Special Operations Forces, their commitment to collective defense and responsibilities to the component command of the NATO Special Response Forces (NRF). In addition, the leaders discussed the potential for participation of the Bulgarian Special Forces in various initiatives of NATO Special Operations in the future.
Lieutenant General Wendt expressed his gratitude and emphasized the success of the Ministry of Defense for the establishment and development of the Joint Special Operations Command of the Bulgarian Armed Forces and the increase in the operational capabilities of our Special Forces.

“By signing this agreement, we take another beneficial step towards enhancing the capabilities of our Armed Forces. We provide the Special Forces with an opportunity to receive new equipment by means of which, while fulfilling their constitutional obligations, they will be much more efficient and useful in protecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Bulgaria, and in performing their other missions,” said the Minister of Defense Krasimir Karakachanov after signing the contract with the Bulgarian company Samel-90 AD on the acquisition of combat vehicles for the Special Operations Forces today, 8 December 2020, at the Ministry of Defense.

"This is a patriotic endeavor. We not only increase the capabilities of our Special Forces, we support the Bulgarian economy on the money of the Bulgarian taxpayers, so that it does not leak somewhere abroad, and Bulgaria will not be perceived as a colonial state obliged to only buy from foreign countries, " emphasized Minister Krasimir Karakachanov.

“Nearly four years ago, the present political and military leadership had set the ambitious goal for itself to modernize a great part of the Bulgarian armed forces, or at least to start an irreversible process of modernization and rearmament. From the very beginning, our philosophy and cause was to integrate the Bulgarian industry in this undertaking. The normal logic and philosophy is to develop capabilities in Bulgaria. This step provides us with a much more cost-effective cycle of repair and maintenance of the equipment we acquire," added Minister Karakachanov.

He admitted that in the beginning he was skeptical as to the extent to which a Bulgarian company could produce such a complex product. "Now I am an optimist not only with respect to the Special Forces, but also regarding the prospects of the Special Forces in the Navy, and of the Land Forces. I hope that this agreement will be mutually beneficial not only for the Armed Forces of the Republic of Bulgaria, but also for the Bulgarian industry. The agreement will provide the industry with the opportunity to build up confidence that it is able to fulfill tasks which so far were believed to be achievable only by foreign companies," the Minister of Defence said.

Minister Krasimir Karakachanov expressed his hope that the future defence ministers would continue this a policy in order to build capabilities and obtain benefits for the Bulgarian society through much more reasonable means.

"This is a historic moment for the Special Operations Forces," said Major General Yavor Mateev, Commander of the Joint Special Operations Command. "For the first time in our history, we sign a contract of this type, having such a scale and future significance for the operational capabilities of the Special Forces as well as for fulfilling our principal responsibilities under the national counter-terrorism plan," emphasized Major General Yavor Mateev.

According to him, the agreement is extremely important, having been signed after much effort by all parties, and in the framework of the negotiation process the best possible conditions were achieved. He also presented some of the key points of the negotiation process: "The decision of the Council of Ministers dated 18 November 2020 was of a “fundamental interest "and enabled the Ministry of Defense to negotiate the terms directly. A working group appointed by the Minister of Defence which I headed, managed to significantly increase the number of the combat vehicles compared to what we had as preliminary parameters. I would like to thank the company "Samel” for their professionalism. We were not only flexible, we literally squeezed all possible options within the budget to achieve the best for us, and the company made significant concessions and used its reserves (based on the fact that for the first time they actually fulfill a similar contract with the Bulgarian army) ", General Mateev pointed out.

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The contract for acquisition of combat vehicles for the Special Operations Forces, implementing the investment project aimed at increasing the mobility and personnel protection was signed by the Minister of Defence Krasimir Karakachanov and the Executive Director of Samel-90 Petar Georgiev, in compliance with all anti-epidemic measures today, 8 December 2020 at the Ministry of Defense. The Chief of Defense Admiral Emil Eftimov, the Deputy Chiefs of Defence Lieutenant General Dimitar Iliev and Lieutenant General Tsanko Stoykov, the Deputy Ministers of Defense Atanas Zapryanov and Anatoliy Velichkov, the Commander of the Joint Special Operations Command Major General Yavor Mateev and other high standing officials attended the event.

The subject of the contract is the acquisition of 98 combat vehicles of 10 types tasked to serve different purposes, and its value amounts to BGN 49,998,000. The implementation period shall not be longer than 3 years. The warranty period is 5 years, during which all maintenance and replacement of consumables is covered by the company.

It was also agreed to build and equip a technical repair activities center which will be staffed by increasing the personnel of the logistics battalion in the Special Operations Forces. The technical center will be situated in Plovdiv where the prevailing part of the Special Forces formations are deployed. The Center will be one hundred percent equipped by the company which will provide equipment, technical devices and machinery to ensure the capacity required to perform all minor repairs.

The first combat vehicles are due to arrive in the middle of the next year, 2021.

The project "Increasing the mobility and personnel protection of the Special Operations Forces" was implemented under the Ordinance on the criteria and procedures for establishing availability of basic interests in the cases under Art. 13, para. 1, item 13, letters “a”, “e” and “g” and Art. 149, para. 1, item 2 of the Public Procurement Act. Through the implementation of this project, the Special Operations Forces of the Bulgarian Army will acquire ten types of off-road combat and specialized vehicles with varying degrees of protection tasked to ensure the personnel mobility while performing the full range of missions and counter-terrorism tasks. The combat vehicles also have automatically controlled weapons.

"Today is an important day for the Navy. With this project, we took the second step towards the modernization of the Bulgarian Army after signing the contract for new fighter aircraft. I hope it is not the last one." This was what the Minister of Defense Krassimir Karakachanov said at the ceremony on signing the contract for the project "Acquisition of a multipurpose modular patrol ship for the Navy" with the company "Fr. Lürssen Werft “GmbH & Co. KG” today, 12 November 2020."We signed a contract that is important not only for the Bulgarian Armed Forces, particularly for the Bulgarian Navy, but also for the company Lursen. It shows that the relations, including the economic ones, between the two friendly countries, the Republic of Bulgaria and the Federal Republic of Germany, are developing well ", added Minister Karakachanov.

"Our relations with Lursen do not end with this contract, on the contrary, this contract is only the beginning. We still have a lot of work to do on the industrial cooperation. I hope that the two sides will be able to build trust and good relations which, for many years to come, will be beneficial both for the German company and for the Bulgarian Navy," said the Minister of Defence.

"The deal is especially important because the two ships will be fully built in Bulgaria, in Varna. We plan to build more ships in the future that will be used both in the Black Sea and in other seas.” This was what Dirk Malgowski, Managing Director of the company “Fr. Lürssen Werft “GmbH & Co. KG” said at the signing ceremony.

He thanked the Bulgarian team for the constructive atmosphere and hard work and effort put in the negotiations process and pointed out that the real hard work is actually ahead of us as the building of the vessels will take several years.

It is a great day for Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Navy, stressed Dirk Malgowski, and it is an important day for my company, for Lürssen, as well, because we have been able to sign this deal with a European partner country and NATO member, which is of special importance to us. Thanks to this deal, the excellent ties between our two countries will deepen even further.
As per the contract, endorsed by the Council of Ministers, the company will manufacture and deliver two multipurpose modular patrol vessels (MMPVs) within a budget of 984,000,000 inclusive of VAT. The ships are going to be built on Bulgarian territory, at the MTG Dolphin shipyard. The vessels are expected to be delivered in 2025 and 2026 respectively. The contract provides for training of both the crews and the engineers. The MMPVs will be capable of participating in a vast range of NATO and EU maritime operations. The implementation of this project will help the Bulgarian Navy acquire modern capabilities for surface warfare, submarine warfare, and air warfare.

In compliance with all anti-epidemic measures, the ceremony was attended by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany to Bulgaria H.E. Christoph Eichhorn, the Chief of Defence Admiral Emil Eftimov, the Commander of the Bulgarian Navy Rear Admiral Kiril Mihaylov, and representatives of the contractor.

A 10-year „Defence Cooperation Roadmap between the Republic of Bulgaria and the United States of America“ was signed by the Bulgarian Minister of Krasimir Karakachanov and the Secretary of Defense Mark Esper at a meeting at the Pentagon.

The goal is to deepen the cooperation in the Black Sea region, support the implementation of NATO capability targets, enhance the cooperation in the sphere of cybersecurity and strengthen crisis resilience.
„The signed Roadmap will assist the development of the Bulgarian Armed Forces, including Capabilities targets of NATO forces,“ said Minister Karakachanov.

He stressed that despite the COVID-19 crisis and the possible impact on the country's economy, the Ministry of Defense continues to work on the major modernization projects of the Bulgarian Army.

The investments in the field of defense mean more jobs created through development of the industrial cooperation with leading companies of the military-industrial complex.

„We are satisfied with the decision made by the USA to add Bulgaria to the list of countries that can benefit from deferred payment in possible future projects,“ said Minister Karakachanov.

“We highly appreciate Bulgaria's role as a state generating security and stability both regionally and within the framework of collective security,” said US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper who explicitly thanked Bulgaria for the fruitful bilateral cooperation.

“Your country is an example to a number of NATO member states by implementing the plan to increase the defense budget to 2% of the Gross Domestic Product for defense purposes,” said Mark Esper, pointing out the common interests of the two countries in the Black Sea region.

The work program of the Bulgarian Minister of Defense continued at the US State Department with two meetings - with the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale and Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Clarke Cooper.

Security issues in the Black Sea region, the Western Balkans and in the Middle East were discussed during the meetings as well as the enhanced presence, the increased scale and intensity of joint exercises and training within the framework of the existing Defense Cooperation Agreement of 2006.

Minister Karakachanov reaffirmed Bulgaria's position on the integration of the Western Balkan countries in the European Union, and noted the delay in fulfilling some of the commitments made by the Republic of North Macedonia under the Treaty on Friendship, Good Neighborliness and Cooperation which cause difficulties in the development of the bilateral relations.

In the coming days, meetings and talks will be held with the Governor of the State of Tennessee, as well as with representatives of the Tennessee National Guard with which, since 1993, the Bulgarian Army has established bilateral cooperation and numerous joint projects.

The Ministers of Defense of Bulgaria and the United States of America Krasimir Karakachanov and Mark Esper signed today, 6 October 2020, a Defense Cooperation Roadmap. The ceremony took place at the Pentagon in the framework of Defense Minister Krasimir Karakachanov's visit to the United States of America.
We bring to your attention the text of the document.
The United States of America and the Republic of Bulgaria
Roadmap for Defense Cooperation
2020- 2030

The Department of Defense (DoD) of the United States of America and the Ministry of Defense (MoD) of the Republic of Bulgaria share a goal of advancing the military capabilities and readiness of Bulgaria, the United States, and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Allies. Built upon the foundation of the Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria on Defense Cooperation, signed in Sofia on April 28, 2006, the U.S. DoD and the Bulgaria MoD affirm our strategic partnership in this ten-year Roadmap for Defense Cooperation and in the associated Lines of Effort (LOEs). Together, these documents help to establish a framework for the continuous development of Bulgaria's military readiness and capabilities through sustained defense cooperation.

Our bilateral defense relationship is based on mutual trust, respect, and the political will of both countries to advance common defense objectives. Our cooperation focuses on, but is not limited to, the following priorities through December 2030:

• Aligning U.S. security cooperation and assistance to Bulgaria with NATO capability targets and national priorities to achieve NATO-agreed levels of modernization, readiness, and deployability.

• Assisting Bulgarian defense institutions in creating an accountable and transparent defense establishment that can effectively sustain next-generation military capabilities.

• Deepening Black Sea cooperation to deter and counter external threats and challenges in the Maritime and Air Domains effectively.

• Cooperating on cyber security to deter malicious cyber activities and attacks on defense systems, to attribute such activities and attacks, and to counter adversaries effectively.

• Assisting Bulgaria with North Atlantic Treaty Article 3 commitments to build national resilience, which is a combination of civil preparedness and military capacity.

Pursuant to these priorities, the United States and Bulgaria plan to implement the defense cooperation activities outlined in the LOEs for Defense Cooperation. The existing DoD-MoD-led Bilateral Working Group should monitor the progress of the roadmap and continually revise, remove, or add LOEs and activities, as appropriate. This should be captured in progress reports from relevant forums, including the existing Bilateral Joint Commission. All defense cooperation activities are dependent upon availability of forces and resources, funding, and authorization.

This Roadmap for Defense Cooperation is not an international agreement and does not give rise to international legal rights or obligations.