NATO SECRETARY GENERAL TALKS TO BNT

BNT

1. Secretary General, what was the purpose of your visit in Bulgaria?

Anders Fogh Rasmussen: "I am here to congratulate Bulgaria on the tenth anniversary of joining NATO. I am also here to thank Bulgaria for many years of contributions to NATO- led operations and in general thank Bulgaria for the strong commitment to our alliance".

BNT

2. We are in a challenging situation with respect to the European security. We are here at the border of Russia and Ukraine. What would be your message?

Anders Fogh Rasmussen: "I have the following very clear message: thanks to your membership of NATO Bulgaria is covered by our collective defense, our famous article five, which states that an attack on one ally would be considered an attack on all. And I think that solidarity has a strong deterrent effect so potential adversaries wouldn’t even think of attacking a NATO ally. And I can assure you that we are strongly committed to that collective defense".

BNT

3. Does NATO consider to reinforce its collective defense in this country like in the Baltic countries?

Anders Fogh Rasmussen: "We are right now looking into how we could possibly further strengthen collective defense. We have taken some steps, as you mentioned we have enhanced air policing in the Baltic states, we have deployed AWACS aircrafts to improve surveillance over Poland and Romania, you have seen more naval presence in the Black Sea. And we are now considering how we could further strengthen collective defense including through an update of our defense plans, development of new defense plans, enhanced exercises and also appropriate deployments, but it is much too early to say anything about where and how".

BNT

4. What may be Bulgaria’s role in this collective defense, in this situation?

Anders Fogh Rasmussen: "I think Bulgaria’s role, like the role of other allies, is to stay committed to the principle of solidarity. I think a firm stance and unity are very important elements in addressing the Russian aggression in Ukraine. So I would expect Bulgaria to support our efforts to strengthen collective defense and actually the President and the government have confirmed today that they strongly support our efforts in that respect. And if one day it comes to economic sanctions, I would expect Bulgaria like others to support such sanctions".

BNT

5. How do you answer the critics that NATO is using this crisis to justify its existence?

Anders Fogh Rasmussen: "Let me remind you that all of this started because of Russian illegal military actions in Ukraine and Russian annexation of Crimea into the Russian federation. We didn’t start this, but of course we have to react, we have to adapt to the new security situation in Europe. We have no need to invent new tasks and purposes for NATO. Our hands are full, but our core task is to defend our allies against any attack and many of our eastern allies are strongly concerned about their security because of the irresponsible Russian behaviour. So of course we have to strengthen our collective defense because of the Russian actions".

BNT

6. What would be an acceptable solution to this crisis for NATO?

Anders Fogh Rasmussen: "But I think the right way forward is a political and diplomatic solution. We are not discussing military options, but an important part of a political and diplomatic solution is a de-escalation of the military situation so that’s why I continue to urge Russia to pull back its troops, to live up to its international obligations and commitments and engage in a direct dialogue with Ukraine".

BNT

7. Does NATO envisage some measures with respect of the Energy Security?

Anders Fogh Rasmussen: "Well, NATO is not in the business of energy security, so to speak. I think it is primarily for the European Union to address energy security, but obviously energy security is a very important part of the overall security and I think the aggressive Russian behaviour demonstrates how important it is that European countries reduce their dependency on imported energy from Russia. And I hope the European Union will address that appropriately".

BNT

8. NATO interrupted its relations with Russia in the framework of EAPC, NRC and PFP, but not in respect of Afghanistan. Why?

Anders Fogh Rasmussen: "Well, we have actually suspended all practical cooperation with Russia. But you’re right that Russia has provided transit arrangements to the benefit of our operation in Afghanistan. And it is for Russia to decide whether they will continue those transit arrangements. We have other projects where we have cooperated with Russia, for instance a helicopter project, a counter-narcotics project. We will try to continue these projects, but without Russian participation".

BNT

9. The incoming Wales summit will be your last summit. What would be the conclusion that you will make on this summit? What would you like people to remember you as a Secretary General of NATO?

Anders Fogh Rasmussen: " Well, I think we’ve done a lot since I took office as a Secretary General. We adopted a new strategic concept in 2010. We have developed the smart defense concept where people cooperate to acquire military capabilities. We have reformed our alliance, reduced number of headquarters and streamlined our structures. We have decided to build a NATO missile defense system, just to mention some examples. When it comes to the summit, of course, the agenda will be impacted very much by what we have seen in Ukraine, so I hope that at the summit NATO allies would commit to gradually invest more in defense. It is a matter of concern that we see so deep cuts in defense budgets, in particular in Europe. I raised it with the Bulgarian government in today’s meetings. I raise it with the government of other ally nations. We must stop the cuts and we must gradually start to increase our defense investments. What we have seen in Ukraine is a wake up call and the time has come to gradually increase defense investments and I hope we could commit to that at the summit in Wales".

Interviewer: Zornitza Venkova

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