Bulgaria can show more in its participation in NATO operations, NATO deputy assistant secretary general for policy and planning Holger Pfeiffer said.

At the same time the country is occupied with other peacekeeping missions, Pfeiffer said. Its decision to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan was a positive development, he said.

Sharing responsibility in NATO is not measured in quantity only, Pfeiffer said. Three main criteria are used among which GDP percentage allocated to defence, execution of NATO tasks and participation in other defence initiatives.

Bulgaria’s GDP allocated to defence was relatively high, Pfeiffer said. The defence budget is 2.5 per cent while the NATO average is two per cent, Bulgarian National Radio reported.

Plans for the development of Bulgarian armed forces also received Pfeiffer’s approval. Most ideas in the plan follow NATO strategies, he said.

At the same time Bulgaria needed to think about the sources of funding for future defence projects. Some of the activities listed in the strategy might need to be carried out earlier than planned and some of the unnecessary structures could have to be removed, Pfeiffer said.