No American military aircraft flew while the Vasil Levski Airport in Sofia was closed, said Chief of Defense Admiral Emil Eftimov to journalists. He spoke to the media after presenting an Analysis of the State and Preparation of the Armed Forces in 2025.
On February 19, the Ministry of Defense announced that US Air Force aircraft were deployed at the airport in Sofia for exercises. Later, the airport announced that the runway would be closed on February 23 between 3:15 and 4:50 a.m. and on February 24 between 3:05 and 5:35 a.m. for regular repairs to shafts near it.
"People have nothing to worry about. Information leaked to the media that the Sofia airport would be closed. No American planes were flying. It is not related to this", explained Admiral Eftimov. Acting Minister of Defense Atanas Zapryanov said that they had not closed the airport.
The Chief of Defense appealed for calm and explained that in order for allied planes to be allowed in, a risk analysis was conducted and measures were taken. This is not the first time we have accepted allied planes. In the summer, we accepted 16 F-16 aircraft at the "Bezmer" airbase. This deployment cannot take place at a military airport, so it had to be at “Vrazhdebna“, but since there are more planes, we also use a stand on the other side, but the host is the “Vrazhdebna“ airbase, Admiral Eftimov explained.
No one has asked Bulgaria to provide territory for a hypothetical future US operation against Iran, said Acting Minister Atanas Zapryanov yesterday.
Today is the first day of the annual conference of the Chief of Defense. The theme of this year's conference is “Development of the Armed Forces through the prism of tasks in a national and allied format“.
With 2.5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in defense spending, we cannot build an Armed Forces that is adequate to the modern security environment, said the Chief of Defense.
Funding has a direct impact on the processes in the army, Admiral Eftimov noted.
We have analyzed the processes in the Armed Forces that affect the state and preparation of the army, said the Chief of Defense. The modernization process is gaining increasingly visible dimensions. The first eight F-16 aircraft have arrived, the infrastructure was prepared at an accelerated pace in order to certify the arrival of the aircraft. Now our F-16 pilots are flying at a very good pace. We raised the flag of the multifunctional modular patrol ship "Brave", the crew is on board. The first "Stryker" vehicles have begun to arrive, the Chief of Defense commented.
By 2027, there will be no such mechanized brigade in Europe - so equipped, combat vehicles, combat reconnaissance vehicles, vehicles for nuclear, chemical and biological protection, medical evacuation, logistics vehicles. There is no such equipped brigade in Europe. We made a very good decision - a combination of firepower, protection and mobility, said Admiral Eftimov.
Today marks four years since the start of the war in Ukraine, the Chief of Defense noted. When the war began, I made only one statement - Bulgaria should not be in such a situation. That is why we are doing everything possible in a coalition and alliance format - Bulgaria should be on the security map, so that we can rely on a commitment from both NATO and allies, so that we do not end up in such a situation, he said.
The Chief of Defense pointed out that all countries in the world strive to provide security mechanisms and none can defend itself alone.