Europe is not prepared to counter hybrid activities, former Deputy Minister of Defense and founder of the Sofia Security Forum Yordan Bozhilov told the Bulgarian National Radio. According to him, the European Union and NATO are already discussing measures to strengthen the resilience of states, but the need to build effective defense will continue to be on the agenda.
“Europe is not prepared to counter hybrid activities“, Bozhilov said in the program “Saturday 150“. He pointed out that hybrid actions can be considered in the context of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, when there is an attack on the territory of a member state.
Common defense is needed
According to Bozhilov, NATO has plans for actions along the entire eastern flank, of which Bulgaria is also a part. However, he raised the question of how European countries will compensate for possible shortcomings if the United States limits its political and military commitment to European defense.
The expert noted that the countries on NATO's northern flank are developing more intensive regional cooperation. In contrast, in the region of Bulgaria, coordination between neighboring countries, according to him, remains poorly developed.
„The big question is what is the role of European countries as a pillar in NATO. Apparently, the aim will be to fill the gaps that will be established after the American rethinking of its participation in European defense,“ said Bozhilov.
Criticism of Bulgaria's approach
With regard to Bulgaria, Bozhilov defined the framework agreement with Ukraine as a prerequisite, but insisted on specific projects and active talks. He gave as an example the planned acquisition of five jamming systems and five missile and air defense systems.
“We need a comprehensive common system that includes both the technical part and the organizational part - we don't have that. These are things that we need to conceptually rethink“, said the expert.
In an earlier interview with bTV, Bozhilov defined hybrid threats not only drones, but also disinformation, cyberattacks and GPS signal distortion. At that time, he warned that in the event of a serious attack with cheap and widely used drones, Europe may be unable to respond adequately.
According to him, protection against such actions requires both technical means, clear responsibility between institutions and a mechanism for rapid decision-making. Without such a system, the response remains divided between separate structures, instead of being part of a common security policy.
Sources: bnrnews.bg, btvnovinite.bg