The Permanent Representative of Bulgaria to NATO Ivan Naydenov and the Deputy Secretary-General of NATO Alexander Vershbow signed today in Brussels an agreement on the accession of Bulgaria as a leading country to the NATO Building Integrity Trust Fund.

The agreement was also signed by the Ambassadors of the five other leading countries Norway, Belgium, Poland , Switzerland and the UK.  The accession allows our country to participate in the management of the Building Integrity Trust Fund and to reduce the risk of corruption in the field of defense and security.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Deputy Secretary-General welcomed the accession of Bulgaria to the Trust Fund and emphasized the leading role of our country in the "Building integrity" project within the framework of the South-Eastern Europe Defence Ministerial (SEDM).

Ambassador Naydenov thanked for the opportunity for Bulgaria to join as a leading nation to the NATO Building Integrity Trust Fund. He pointed out that the prevention of corruption in the security and defense sector should be a goal for both the allies and the partner countries. "In light of the limited defense budget, it is our obligation to encourage the process of transparency in the management of resources. For this purpose, NATO provides tools that should be utilized, " the Permanent Representative of Bulgaria to NATO said.

On behalf of the other five leading countries, greetings to Bulgaria were addressed by the Permanent Representative of Norway who underlined the contribution of our country to the development and implementation of NATO’s program for building integrity in Southeast Europe.