The defense ministers of the NATO countries will meet today against the backdrop of increasing provocations by Russia in the airspace of the pact countries, BNR reported.
Bulgaria will be represented by Defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov.
The forum will discuss the implementation of the most important decisions related to NATO's defense and deterrence potential, taken at the summit in The Hague in July.
Key issues will also be discussed, such as the implementation of the commitments adopted in The Hague to increase defense spending, long-term political and practical support for Ukraine, and the coordinated response to hybrid threats against the alliance.
A Council is also scheduled to be held today "Foreign Affairs" in the "Defense" format, which will debate the EU's defense readiness. This comes a day before the expected publication of the White Paper on the Community's Defense Readiness by 2030.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrives on an official visit to Serbia. She will be officially welcomed by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, and later the two will have a private meeting. A meeting with Prime Minister Džuro Măsut is also planned.
On October 9, during an extraordinary statement due to the US sanctions imposed on the Serbian oil company NIS, which is majority owned by "Gazprom", Vučić indicated that he had received an invitation to go to Moscow for a summit on energy issues, but that this was impossible, since at that time the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen would visit Belgrade.
This week Ursula von der Leyen is visiting the countries of the Western Balkans - Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and the Republic of North Macedonia.
The European Commission is expected to present its annual progress reports on the countries applying for EU membership on October 29.