Romanian, Bulgarian defense ministers discuss on strengthening deterrence, defense posture on Eastern Flank

The Minister of National Defense, Angel Tilvar, had a meeting on Tuesday with his Bulgarian counterpart, Atanas Zapryanov, who is present in Bucharest in the context of the Meeting of Defense Ministers of B9 states, co-chaired by Romania and Poland.According to a release sent by the Defense Ministry (MApN), the Romanian minister sent his condolences to his Bulgarian counterpart for the two pilots who lost their lives in the air tragedy at Graf Ignatievo.The agenda of the bilateral meeting focused on topics related to strengthening the deterrence and defense posture on NATO's Eastern Flank and, in particular, in the Black Sea area.The two officials discussed the projects started by Romania and Bulgaria, in an allied context, in the field of military mobility and the transport of fuels in an integrated system, as well as the initiative of Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey through which the Black Sea Task Force for combating sea mines was established (MCM BLACK SEA), informs MApN."I would like to welcome the success of the MCM BLACK SEA project. In just a few days we will have the second activation of the group, after the success of the first activation, in July. It is very important to look at this joint project as an achievement of cooperation between the NATO allies on the Black Sea, a project open to all member states," stated Minister Tilvar, quoted in the press release.The importance of continuing bilateral efforts to implement joint projects in an allied framework was also mentioned."We signed, together with Bulgaria and Greece, two very important Letters of Intent, one in October 2023, regarding the expansion of the NATO fuel chain towards South-Eastern Europe, and the second in July this year, on the sidelines of the NATO Summit from Washington, regarding the harmonization of a military mobility corridor, which would support the easy movement of troops and capabilities and ensure the necessary logistical support", the Romanian minister of Defense emphasized.In this context, the importance of the establishment of the Regional Command of the Special Operations component (HQ R-SOCC), created in order to strengthen cooperation within the allied framework and for the benefit of the security of the Black Sea region, was mentioned, the MApN informs.During the meeting, according to the quoted source, the very good level of collaborative relations between the two states was appreciated, with major progress being made in the fields of common interest and in the activities carried out in recent years, including regarding the constant support offered to Ukraine, both bilaterally and in an allied context.  (Photo:https://armed.mapn.ro/)