Bulgaria, Greece, Romania to Step up Defence Cooperation

Bulgaria, Greece and Romania will take concrete measures to enhance their defence cooperation.

This was agreed at a meeting of the defence ministers of the three Balkan member states of the EU, which took place in Luxembourg on Monday.

The meeting was held on the initiative of Bulgarian Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev with the participation of his Greek and Romanian counterparts, namely Panos Kammenos and Mihnea Motoc.

The trilateral meeting, which took place within the framework of the Foreign Affairs Council of the EU, restored a vital format for regional cooperation.

During their meeting, the ministers agreed on the need to step up cooperation and communication at all levels, the press service of the Bulgarian defence ministry informs.

They discussed issues concerning the migrant pressure and the worsened security environment.

Despite some differences in their viewpoints, the three ministers coalesced around the need for joint actions in tackling the refugee influx.

Each of the countries expressed readiness to be more committed towards the problems of its neighbours. It was agreed that concrete steps to enhance cooperation will be discussed as early as next week.

At the trilateral meeting, the ministers also focused their attention on the preparation for the forthcoming NATO summit, which is scheduled to take place in Warsaw in July.

The international forum in Luxembourg continues on Tuesday with a meeting of the steering board of the European Defence Agency and a meeting of the defence ministers of the EU member states within the format of the Foreign Affairs Council.