IN the first year of its membership of NATO, Bulgaria has emerged as an active member of the alliance and has made considerable progress.
Bulgaria was admitted to NATO on April 2 last year.
In an interview with Bulgarian news agency BTA, Defence Minister Nikolai Svinarov said that the country was already taking an active part in the NATO policymaking process.
"Bulgaria has already put forward its own initiatives, among them a proposal for joint financing of Allied operations," he said. "For the purposes of collective defence under Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, the country has pledged to commit a mechanised brigade, a nuclear, biological and chemical defence unit, special and engineer forces, combat and transport helicopters, and an aviation management group."
Bulgaria is currently using fighter aircraft to perform Air Policing tasks under NATO's operational command.
Asked what recommendations Sofia needed to follow regarding its participation in the alliance, Svinarov said that there was a need to improve the defence planning system, with special emphasis on the effective use of available resources. Other recommendations concern the attainment of objectives that the country has set itself in strategic documents: to build multifunctional, interoperable and combat-worthy armed forces with adequate logistical support.
These objectives require a new command structure and a new management system, as well as modernisation and re-armament. The Government has achieved a lot in this field but reforms must continue.
Bulgaria's national representatives were actively contributing to NATO's committees and other bodies.
"As the country gathers more experience in these activities, its representatives will become more effective in furthering our national interests in the decision making process," Svinarov said.
Bulgaria has already achieved its first success in the domain of the NATO Security Investment Programme. An agreement in principle has been achieved on using funding under this programme to upgrade two military airfields in the country, which will become possible after approval from the North Atlantic Council.
On the protection of classified information, Svinarov said that in its first year of full membership, Bulgaria had proven it has the potential to implement the procedures for receiving, handling and storing of documents and materials containing external classified information, including NATO information.
"Bulgaria's contribution to the post-conflict recovery of the Western Balkans is much appreciated," Svinarov said. "This contribution has involved not only the commitment of peacekeeping forces but also a balanced political approach."
The country has also earned much praise for its involvement in Afghanistan's reconstruction and particularly for its role in the post-war recovery of Iraq and in the related NATO-led training mission.
Speaking on the same occasion, armed forces chief General Nikola Kolev said that the full integration of the Bulgarian army with the armed forces of the other NATO member states is a process that will take at least 10 years. He based this estimate on the experience of other countries that joined the alliance in recent years.
Kolev said he believed that in the purely military aspect, Bulgaria's armed forces had successfully integrated with NATO structures. He said, however, that a lot of hard work was in store for the country before it fully adapted to the alliance.