Bulgaria is at centre of diplomatic shuttles

Bulgaria is the focus of intense diplomatic shuttles because of the war in Ukraine. At the end of the week, United States Secretary of Defence, Lloyd Austin, is visiting the country and late last night Prime Minister, Kiril Petkov, held a telophone conversation with US Vice President, Kamala Harris, at her initiative. The main topic is reinforcing the Eastern flank of the Alliance after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, announced that at their extraordinary meeting tomorrow defence ministers will discuss a major reinforcement of the Alliance's forces in the east, by land, sea and air.

The next steps in the collective response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the reinforcement of NATO's defences - these two topics were discussed in a telephone conversation between US Vice President Kamala Harris and Prime Minister Kiril Petkov.

"We had a very nice conversation with the US Vice President. She actually called to thank us. She said, 'The only thing I mainly want to emphasize is to thank you for the clear position of the Bulgarian government on the support for Ukraine that you are giving,'" Petkov said.

Bulgaria has already said it is ready to continue providing humanitarian support to Kiev, as well as hosting refugees.

Among the main topics expected to be discussed during Lloyd Austin's visit to Bulgaria are Ukraine and strengthening the security of allies in the region.

Austin has added Bulgaria as a stop on his European trip, which will begin in Brussels with the meeting of NATO defense ministers tomorrow, the Pentagon said.

"He will extend the trip by a day, and he will have a chance to meet with senior civilian and military leadership in Bulgaria - also a key stop in terms of the eastern flank of the Alliance," John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesperson said on March 14.

Speaking to BNR, Bulgarian Defence Minister Dragomir Zakov described Austin's visit as "extremely significant", showing the strong US commitment to NATO security.

He announced that the formation of the Battle Group, which will contribute to the strengthening of the Eastern Flank, is at an advanced stage.

"We are currently awaiting offers from allies to fill this shortfall that we have in the composition of the Battle Group in terms of capabilities. I expect that in the coming days we will have specific contributions, which we will make public," he said.

NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, announced that NATO expects a false flag operation by Russia in Ukraine using chemical weapons. In response to the Russian invasion, the alliance's defence ministers will discuss further measures on the Eastern flank tomorrow.

"There are now hundreds of thousands of NATO forces on heightened alert across the alliance, 100,000 US troops in Europe, and around 40,000 troops under direct NATO command, mostly in the Eastern part of the alliance," Stoltenberg said.

The measures would include: significantly more forces in the eastern part of the alliance with more combat equipment, large increases in naval and air force deployments, more and larger-scale exercises and a beefing up of missile and air defenses. The United States currently deploys the Patriot batteries in Poland, and Germany and the Netherlands - in Slovakia.

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