Nikolay Nenchev

Parliament's Defense Committee is set to hold a joint meeting with military officials at the Graf Ignatievo military base, Southern Bulgaria, amid calls for urgent measures to address the needs of the country's Air Force.

Commander of the Bulgarian Air Force, Major General Rumen Radev, has reportedly submitted his resignation.

This was reported by daily Sega on Thursday, based on information of the defence ministry, which has been confirmed unofficially.

A statement of the defence ministry on the matter is expected.

Bulgaria probably used to pay twice the normal price for the maintenance contracts it had with Russian company RSK MiG to repair fighter jets from its military aircraft fleet, Defense Minister Nikolay Nenchev has said.

In an interview with private national NOVA TV channel, Nenchev suggested the money might have been used either for "political purposes" or "hybrid warfare".

Defense Minister Nikolay Nenchev said on Wednesday that Bulgaria might move to sent up to 1000 people to patrol along the border with Turkey, amid expectations of renewed migratory pressure.

By the end of Wednesday, the number of people to be deployed will be somewhere between 50 and 160, the Bulgarian National Radio quotes him as saying.

Bulgarian Defense Minister Nikolay Nenchev has warned the country's army will need hundreds of millions of BGN for current expenses over the next few years.

The Bulgarian authorities have been informed that the Syria-bound Russian cargo aircraft seeking clearance to overfly Bulgaria's territory could have possibly been transporting weapons, Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev said on Tuesday.

Bulgaria's Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev will call for devising a common EU policy on counteracting the influx of refugees to Europe.

Nenchev will raise the issue at the informal meeting of EU defence ministers, which is scheduled to take place in Luxembourg on Wednesday and Thursday.

Bulgarian Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev called for urgently devising a concept on counteracting hybrid threats.

Nenchev announced this during the opening of the new academic year at the Georgi Sava Rakovski Military Academy in Sofia on Tuesday.

The minister revealed that he had already raised the issue at the level of NATO defence ministers, Darik radio reports.

Defense Minister Nikolay Nenchev has said he is to demand help from Europe in the fight against people smuggling in relation to the deepening migrant crisis in the continent.  

Six Bulgarian Air Force MiG-29 fighter jets will have their engines overhauled in Poland under an intergovernmental letter of intent signed in Sofia on Friday.