Minister Vigenin discussed with his NATO counterparts the priorities for the 2014 Summit
04 December 2013 News
The preparation of the 2014 NATO Summit, strengthening the partner relations and the open-door policy were among the topics discussed by the Foreign Ministers of the Alliance during the first day of their meeting in Brussels.
On the first working session the ministers reviewed the agenda and the objectives of the forthcoming 2014 NATO Summit to be held in September in the United Kingdom. The future of NATO after the cease of the largest ISAF operation and the shift from a combat-centric role to a more enabling role were also discussed. "We have to show that NATO remains the most effective alliance, ready to meet the challenges of the 21st century by improving its military capabilities, continue conducting reforms and developing its relations with the partners," said in his statement Minister Vigenin. He emphasized the need for a balanced agenda of the Summit, which includes also the open-door policy.
The second session was devoted to partnerships, their post-2014 development and how to keep interoperabilityand political ties with the partners. The Bulgarian Foreign Minister supported the idea of strengthening the cooperation with the partners that are most interested in deepening cooperation and able to contribute the most, both politically and operationally. Regarding the advisory NATO mission for Libya, Minister Vigenin expressed the view that the support of the Alliance for Libya in the field of defense and the bilateral efforts of the Allies to prepare the Libyan troops are complementary and contribute to achieving better results. The ministers adopted a statement on the events in Ukraine, which condemned the use of excessive force against peaceful demonstrators and urged the government and the opposition to engage in dialogue and launch a reform process.
During the evening discussion on the open-door policy, Minister Vigenin confirmed Bulgaria's support for the Euro-Atlantic integration of the candidate countries and called that each of them obtains an objective assessment of the progress made and support for continuing the reform process. " For us it is important that this topic is among the leading ones in the preparation of the 2014 Summit, without foreseeing the decisions to be taken on it regarding the candidate countries," he said.