Defense Ministers from South East European countries will meet in Bulgaria on March 11  2008 at Sofia's National Palace of Culture (NDK). The meeting is part of the events scheduled during Bulgaria's presidency of Southeast European Cooperation Process (SEECP), the Defense Ministry's press service said.

The forum’s topic is defence policy for security, cooperation and development of Southeastern Europe. SEECP involves Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, Croatia and Montenegro. The forum's agenda will focus on the transformation of the Stability Pact and inauguration of a new structure – the Regional Cooperation Council, as of March 1 2008.

The upcoming meeting will be the first ever of its kind that will enable a review of the existing mechanisms of cooperation in the field of defense as well as outline the priorities in the work of the newly established Regional Cooperation Council in this area, the ministry said. The SEECP started in July 1996 in Sofia within the framework of meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the countries from South East Europe.

The main priority of SEECP’s Bulgarian presidency is the consolidation of the stability in the region and strengthening the regional cooperation in a close interaction with the European Union.