Iran's unprovoked attacks on Cyprus and Turkey are causing serious concern, Acting Defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov told journalists. He and his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias, who is visiting Bulgaria, made a joint statement after their meeting. Dendias is in Bulgaria at Zapryanov's invitation, BTA specified.
A Greek Patriot air defense system has been deployed in Northern Greece since last week, providing missile defense for a large part of Bulgaria's territory. Two additional F-16 aircraft are strengthening the defense of Bulgaria's airspace. Greece provided assistance to Bulgaria after our country requested the strengthening of the missile defense system due to the missiles launched from Iran towards Turkey on March 4.
This morning, the Ministry of Defense announced that joint Bulgarian-Greek training flights of the Air Forces (Air Force) of the two countries will be held in the airspace of Bulgaria.
We are using this visit as two NATO and EU member states and good neighbors to discuss some issues related to the challenges facing security and defense in our region and to review the plan for bilateral cooperation in the field of defense. This was stated by the acting Minister of Defense Atanas Zapryanov after a meeting with his Greek counterpart Nikolaos Dendias.
The Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Greece stated for his part: “As you know, we attach great importance to our relations within the EU. Through the Thessaloniki Agenda of 2003, we played a leading role in Bulgaria's integration into the EU. It was our duty to respond to Bulgaria's request to support it in meeting the threats it faces as a result of the war in Iran," said novini.bg.
“I am happy and proud that a Greek Patriot battery covers a large part of Bulgaria's airspace, and that a pair of F-16 fighters protect the entire airspace from any possible threats. I also sent two officers to coordinate our relations with the Bulgarian operations control center. Today we had the opportunity to discuss very important and interesting topics. There are two letters with my signature - one is about the expansion of the pipelines, and the other - "to expand mobility in the transport of military equipment," he stressed.
He believes that the SAFE mechanism needs reform.
“In Greece, we are implementing a reform called “Agenda 2030“, which aims to comprehensively reform the Greek Armed Forces through a reform called “Achilles Shield“. Part of this reform is the creation of the “Centaur“ anti-drone system, which we have deployed in the Black Sea and in the Cyprus region. We are also interested in cooperation with the Bulgarian innovation ecosystem. We are two small countries, so cooperation will contribute to both countries and to Europe as a whole,“ Dendias added.