The NATO Battle Group in Bulgaria will be Transformed into a Brigade

Bulgaria will commit to upgrading the multinational NATO battle group deployed on its territory to a brigade. This was announced by Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov after the end of the first day of the NATO summit in Lithuania.

"We commit to upgrading it so that it becomes at the level of a brigade, which means providing additional forces," he said, quoted by BTA.

"Bulgaria must upgrade its own armed forces. This includes additional armaments, including the 16 F-16 Block 70 aircraft, the two multi-purpose ships expected to enter service, including armored vehicles for the infantry to be covering the entire spectrum - air, sea and land," said Denkov.

The prime minister said that the decision on the three regional defense plans that were approved by NATO, and one of them affects the Black Sea and Mediterranean areas, are important and that similar plans have not existed since the Cold War, reports BTA.

"They show precisely that the risk of escalation should be taken seriously. But I want to make it clear that the making of these plans and the building of combat forces is actually only defensive and deterrent in nature. When there are such forces, any aggressor would think twice if he wants to take a risk in this regard," said the Bulgarian Prime Minister.

Denkov also stated that Bulgaria is against the use of cluster weapons after the United States announced that it would provide some to Ukraine. However, he added that "there is no way to condemn Ukraine for wanting to use them" since Russia used such weapons not only in Syria but also in Ukraine.