NATO, Bulgaria See Islamic State Threat, Black Sea Tensions as Key Challenges

Bulgaria is strongly concerned by the instability in the Middle East and tensions in the Black Sea region and is doing its best to cope with the influx of refugees which could increase, Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev said on Thursday following talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Sofia.

The two sides agreed that Bulgaria, being located close to the conflict in Ukraine and the threat posed by Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, should be part of NATO's strategy for response to the two challenges, which are the greatest ones standing before the alliance at the moment, the Defence Ministry said in a statement.    

Stoltenberg and Nenchev discussed the implementation of the Readiness  Action Plan adopted at last year's NATO summit in Wales as the basis for boosting the capability of alliance members to promptly react to threats to NATO security.