Feb 15, 2024. Posted by Balkan Periscope - Hellas
Sofia.
Bulgaria is
among the 18 Nato countries that meet the criterion of allocating 2 per cent of
GDP to defence, Defence Minister Todor Tagarev said on February 15 in Brussels,
where he is participating on a meeting of the alliance’s defence ministers.
“We are at two per cent with the planned budget for this year and in each of the following years until 2032,” Bulgarian National Television reported Tagarev as saying.
“About a
third of this budget is for investment in new capabilities, which is received
quite well by our allies,” he said.
In
connection with Donald Trump’s statements that he would encourage Russia to
attack if Nato member countries do not pay, Tagarev said: “Mr. Trump is in an
election campaign and his position is completely understandable.
“All
countries made such a commitment already at the summit in 2014, that is, 10
years ago, and the fact that some have not yet achieved this two per cent is
disturbing. We all have to shoulder the burden together,” Tagarev said.
“The
commitment in Nato is categorical and this morning it was repeated several
times that not a single square centimetre of Nato territory will be allowed to
be given to someone else, to an aggressor country for example,” he said.
Tagarev
said that plans are to allocate 2.4 per cent of GDP for defence by 2026.
“Since
there are large payments under concluded contracts, we are still working to
conclude new contracts, to start the process of rearmament, on a larger scale,
on a wider front, as we have to catch up on a backlog of decades,” he said.
Nato
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on February 15: “Today, Nato defence
ministers will meet to address our support to Ukraine, and how to further
strengthen our deterrence and defence.
“And to do
both, we need to invest more, and we are on the right track. Because we now
have historic numbers when it comes to defence investments,” he said.
Stoltenberg
said that in 2023, there had been an 11 per cent real increase in defence
spending across Europe and Canada.
“This year,
we expect 18 Allies to meet the target of spending two per cent of GDP on
defence. And European Allies together spend $280 billion on defence. And this
is two per cent of their combined GDP.
“But we
still have a way to go. Because at our Summit in Vilnius last year, all Allies
promised to spend two per cent of GDP on defence, and two per cent is a
minimum,” Stoltenberg said.
He said
that he would on February 15 chair a meeting of the Nato Ukraine Council.
“We will
address how to sustain our support to Ukraine. We see that our support is
making a difference on the battlefield every day. Just yesterday, the
Ukrainians were able to strike successfully a Russian naval ship, and this
demonstrates the skills and the competence of Ukrainian armed forces, also in
conducting deep strikes behind the Russian lines,” Stoltenberg said.
“To ensure
that Ukraine gets the weapons, the supplies, the ammunitions they need, we need
to ramp up production. And Nato Allies have, just over the last month – since
we agreed the defence investment plan – agreed and signed contracts for 10
billion euro, for more orders from different parts of the transatlantic defence
industry.”
He welcomed
that Nato Allies are providing more support, more air defence and more
ammunition.
“I welcome
the decision by the European Union to allocate 50 billion euro to Ukraine, and
I expect the US Congress to agree a package of continued support to Ukraine.
Because supporting Ukraine is not charity. Supporting Ukraine is an investment
in our own security.”
Asked about
the recent statement by the US government that Ukraine is running out of
ammunition, Stoltenberg said: “We see the impact already of the fact that the
US has not been able to make a decision but I expect the US to be able to make
a decision, that the Congress and the House of Representatives will agree a
continued support to Ukraine because if we allow President Putin to win it will
not only be bad for the Ukrainians, a tragedy for the Ukrainians but it will
also be dangerous for us.
“It will
make the world even more dangerous for us and leave us more vulnerable
therefore this is our security interest to do so,” Stoltenberg said.
Asked about
Trump’s statement that Nato’s Article 5 would would only apply to nations that
hit their defence spending target, he said: “Article 5, the commitment to
defend all Allies and that an attack on one Ally will be regarded as an attack
on all is the core of Nato, is the heart of Nato and of course that applies for
all Allies because we know that any suggestion that we are not there to protect
and defend all Allies will undermine the security of all of us and put at risk
our soldiers, our personnel who are on the front lines to protect the whole
Alliance.
“So one for
all, all for one applies for all Allies and is the heart of Nato,” Stoltenberg
said.
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