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Teodora Genchovska Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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Bulgarian Foreign Minister Teodora Genchovska has had a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken about “the destabilizing gathering of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine.” The need for a united position on the defense of NATO countries was also discussed, with Blinken reaffirming the US commitment to activating Article 5 of the Alliance’s treaty, which provides for common defense in the event of war.
This became clear from a statement by the US State Department, there is no confirmation from the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry.
The conversation was part of a general discussion that Blinken had with the foreign ministers of the so-called countries. Group of nine from Bucharest – Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
The conversation is at the request of the American side, it is clear from the official announcement by the State Department.
Blinken “emphasized the US commitment to ongoing close consultations and coordination with all our transatlantic allies and partners as we work to de-escalate through restraint, defense and dialogue,” the Washington statement said.
They also discussed “the need for a united, ready and determined NATO position on the collective protection of allies, as well as transatlantic cooperation on issues of common concern”. Blinken also stressed the “unwavering commitment of the United States to transatlantic security and Article 5 of NATO”, guaranteeing the collective defense of each attacked member of the alliance.
The conversation took place less than a month after President Joe Biden’s virtual meeting on December 9th at the level of the presidents of Bulgaria (Rumen Radev), the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and the Prime Minister of Slovakia. After that, SPIEGEL magazine quoted a source as saying that the commander of NATO’s Allied Forces in Europe, Gen. Todd Walters spoke about the need to discuss an enhanced presence of the alliance with about 1,500 people in Bulgaria and Romania – missions that already exist in the Baltic republics and Poland.
Surprisingly, this information was confirmed by the Bulgarian Minister of Defense Stefan Yanev. First, at a public event, he explained that the talks were still technical. However, he later posted a position on Facebook that he was against such a deployment. This status also led to a conflict with Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, who explained that Yanev had expressed a personal opinion. “My appeal is for the national position to be well-argued, in line with the national interest, and, of course, in line with the common interests of NATO’s collective security,” Petkov said in December.
In an interview with Nova TV on Sunday, Kiril Petkov stressed that ministers do not have the right to a personal opinion on issues that are decided by the Council of Ministers in response to a question about the status of Stefan Yanev.
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