“The preparations for the NATO summit in Chicago should give a clear signal that NATO’s door remains open – this is a strong incentive for countries to reform. An example is Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has achieved an important domestic political consensus in order to move closer to NATO,” Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov said at a meeting of the North Atlantic Council, held in Brussels on April 18-19, 2012.

 He advocated the speediest possible commencement of a Membership Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina, saying that “now it is our turn to encourage their efforts”.

Minister Mladenov said that support for Bosnia and Herzegovina would be good news for the region.

Bulgaria’s strong commitment to the future Euro-Atlantic integration of the Western Balkans, and of Bosnia and Herzegovina in particular, was confirmed by the meeting of member states initiated by Minister Mladenov on Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“The story of the relationship in the past 15 years between NATO and Russia and the progress seen in our practical co-operation are a sufficiently solid basis for increasing co-operation on all aspects of our partnership, including those on which our opinions differ,” Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister said at the NATO-Russia Council.

Among these latter areas, he named Georgia and Syria, while noting the overall progress made in Afghanistan.

“We are democratic countries and should therefore support the right of the Syrian people to choose their government,” Minister Mladenov said. He called for the full implementation of the Kofi Annan plan for Syria.

At the closing meeting, which included the participation of non-NATO states that are contributing to ISAF, foreign ministers reaffirmed the commitment that they had made in Lisbon to the completion of the transition and the transfer of the responsibility for security to Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF).

Participants in the meeting discussed continuing support for the country after the end of 2014, mainly through education and training of the ANSF and through financial support.

Within the framework of the Council meeting, Minister Mladenov held individual talks with his counterparts from Australia, Georgia and Greece. Together with Defence Minister Anyu Angelov, he also met the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and of Defence of Turkey.

The Brussels meeting of ministers of Foreign Affairs and of Defence was an important stage in preparations for the NATO Summit in Chicago on May 20-21, 2012.