Defence Ministry in Sofia

Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis, Chief of Hellenic National Defence General Staff, arrived on a three-day official visit to Bulgaria at the invitation of the Chief of Defence General Constantin Popov, the Defence Ministry in Sofia announced on Monday.

No Bulgarian military personnel have been injured in a suicide car bomb blast in Afghanistan's capital Kabul, the Defence Ministry in Sofia said on Tuesday.

The suicide attack, which took place on Tuesday morning near the Afghan Defence Ministry and presidential palace, has killed at least 28 people and injured 329, according to the BBC.

The defence ministers of Bulgaria and Greece have discussed the need to hold talks at the level of contact groups from the two countries' armed forces about joint tackling of the migration pressure at EU borders.

The changes to Defence and Armed Forces Act approved on Friday make Bulgaria "a more reliable NATO ally", Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev has said, referring to the Parliament's approval of participation of allied aircraft in joint air policing missions.

Bulgaria's Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev has discussed modernisation options for the Bulgarian Armed Forces and the Air Force in particular with the visiting United States Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland.

Bulgaria will sign a deal for the repair of the engines of its Russian-made MiG-29 fighter jets with Poland on Thursday, the Defence Ministry in Sofia announced on Tuesday.

No Bulgarian military personnel has been affected by the suicide bombing that claimed the lives of at least three people near Kabul main airport on Sunday morning, the Defence Ministry in Sofia said in a statement.

Bulgaria's Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev and his Romanian counterpart Mircea Dusa on Tuesday discussed the creation of command and control elements that would be deployed in the two countries as part of NATO's Readiness Action Plan.

Bulgaria has granted arms and ammunition worth about BGN 6 M to Iraq as part of an international effort to back the Iraqi government in its fight against Islamic State militants.

The grant comprising about 1,800 firearms and some 6 million rounds of ammunition has already been received by Iraq, the Defence Ministry in Sofia said in a statement.

Bulgaria and Romania will begin a joint air policing exercise this month to practice measures against potential threat to strategic facilities from hijacked or suspicious aircraft.