THE biggest challenge today is fighting international terrorism, because the September 11 attacks proved that terrorism was one of the main threats to international security, Defence Minister Nikolai Svinarov said last Thursday in a speech at the seventh government round table organised by The Economist in Athens.
Svinarov's report was on "Leadership Strategies in South Eastern Europe - Towards Strengthening of Global Ties".
He said the current trend was terrorists "coming out of nowhere, suddenly attacking and quickly disappearing together with their victims", which was potentially more dangerous than conventional terrorism.
"This new enemy requires a new approach by our governments," he said.
Expanded membership of NATO and collective efforts by the Allies to cope with the new security threats were of utmost importance to Bulgaria, he said. Bulgaria had learned that trans-national threats could only be faced by multilateral co-operation, "and even a small country such as Bulgaria could offer efficient co-operation and contribute to the collective efforts in that field".
Another thing Bulgaria had learned was that even with global issues, it was very important for countries in the region quickly to find a common approach and establish a common strategy to neutralise the new threats and challenges, he said.
Forms of regional co-operation in defence and security had a very important role, and Bulgaria attached the utmost importance to the South East European defence ministerial process, BLACKSEAFOR and the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, said Svinarov.
He said BLACKSEAFOR was "a unique effort" in the region for collective action in defence and security. BLACKSEAFOR was an important initiative for generating security in South Eastern Europe, based on regional resources, using a universal and flexible new type of a military unit.
If the Kosovo crisis closed the 20th-century page, Iraq presented a different challenge to international security, and the international community should prove that it was capable of standing up against "the attempts of the dictatorship to acquire weapons of mass destruction", Svinarov said.
Svinarov's report was on "Leadership Strategies in South Eastern Europe - Towards Strengthening of Global Ties".
He said the current trend was terrorists "coming out of nowhere, suddenly attacking and quickly disappearing together with their victims", which was potentially more dangerous than conventional terrorism.
"This new enemy requires a new approach by our governments," he said.
Expanded membership of NATO and collective efforts by the Allies to cope with the new security threats were of utmost importance to Bulgaria, he said. Bulgaria had learned that trans-national threats could only be faced by multilateral co-operation, "and even a small country such as Bulgaria could offer efficient co-operation and contribute to the collective efforts in that field".
Another thing Bulgaria had learned was that even with global issues, it was very important for countries in the region quickly to find a common approach and establish a common strategy to neutralise the new threats and challenges, he said.
Forms of regional co-operation in defence and security had a very important role, and Bulgaria attached the utmost importance to the South East European defence ministerial process, BLACKSEAFOR and the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, said Svinarov.
He said BLACKSEAFOR was "a unique effort" in the region for collective action in defence and security. BLACKSEAFOR was an important initiative for generating security in South Eastern Europe, based on regional resources, using a universal and flexible new type of a military unit.
If the Kosovo crisis closed the 20th-century page, Iraq presented a different challenge to international security, and the international community should prove that it was capable of standing up against "the attempts of the dictatorship to acquire weapons of mass destruction", Svinarov said.
