None such a thing – two people to represent a country. There is one delegation from each member country, which has one leader. There is one chair at the Bulgaria table. That the president is commander-in-chief has nothing to do with the subject. It's a PR exercise – one will represent us at the meeting, the rest of the delegation stand behind, only the head of the delegation speaks. The decisions of the meeting are discussed for months, prepared, usually there are no surprises.
This summed up in the show "Face to Face" on bTV the former Minister of Defense Todor Tagarev.
This is how he commented on today's decision of the caretaker government to attend the NATO Summit in Washington, in addition to Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev, and President Rumen Radev.
This is a PR exercise – one will represent us at the meeting, the others from the delegation stand behind, only the head of the delegation speaks, said Tagarev.
In response to a question, he said that in view of the political speeches from today, President Radev will probably be in this chair.
With our cabinet, we did not wait for the parliament to make a decision, the Council of Ministers makes the decision, as it is according to the Constitution. There, the text is imperative, it is not commented on at all. The fact that the president is commander-in-chief has nothing to do with the topic, the former military minister pointed out.
Decisions at the meeting are discussed for months, prepared, usually there are no surprises. For us, the main thing is the feasibility of the regional defense plans that were adopted at the meeting in Vilnius. The other important issue is about Russia's war in Ukraine and the need to help Ukraine. I assume that the decision will be kept in Vilnius – the help should be as long as needed and as much as needed. Perhaps a decision will be made for foreseeable assistance, and the financial parameters will also be determined, commented Todor Tagarev, specifying that the decisions are made by consensus.
In his words, the modernization of our army is going very well in the last 2-3 years. During the two cabinets of "We continue the change" defense spending rose nominally by 60%, and as a percentage of GDP by 1/3. This creates much better conditions than before for recruitment and modernization of armaments. The Bulgarian army is now better equipped than a few years ago. The former defense minister noted that F-16 aircraft and Stryker combat vehicles should arrive next year.
According to him, there should be mandatory military training in order for our country to have a mobilization reserve. The preparation should last at least 5-6 months and should cover certain categories of Bulgarian citizens, such as people who want to be in the civil service, said Tagarev.