Today, August 23rd, General Simeon Simeonov, Chief of Defence, met H.E. Shaul Kamisa-Raz, Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Republic of Bulgaria. The meeting was attended by Colonel Amicai Abrahams, Defence Attache.

At the beginning of the meeting Chief of Defence General Simeonov offered his condolences to the families of the victims of the terrorist attack at Sarafovo Airport, Burgas.

During the talks General Simeon Simeonov and H.E. Shaul Kamisa-Raz expressed their satisfaction with the good cooperation in the area of defence.

They pointed out that the conducted joint Collector’s Item-12 flight training has been exceptionally beneficial not only for both countries’ Air Forces but also for all service members who participated in it.

Today, August 22nd, Minister of Defence Anu Anguelov awarded the Medal of Honour of the Ministry of Defence “St. George” the First Grade to H.E. Stefano Benazzo, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Italian Republic for his contribution to the development and promotion of the relationships between the Republic of Bulgaria and the Italian Republic in the area of defence and the end of his tenure in our country.

During the ceremony Minister Anguelov congratulated H.E. Benazzo on his successful mission in Bulgaria and underlined his outstanding contribution to the area of defence. The ceremony was also attended by Mrs. Avgustina Tzvetkova, Deputy Minister of Defence, General Simeon Simeonov, Chief of Defence, Mr. Yordan Bozhilov, Chief of the Political Cabinet of the Ministry of Defence and experts from the Ministry.

In the course of the held before the ceremony meeting between Minister Anguelov and H.E. Stefano Benazzo, the Minister of Defence emphasized that the bilateral military cooperation between Bulgaria and Italy plays an important role in the implementation of our country’s defence policy. Minister Anguelov accentuated on the traditionally excellent ties between the Navies and Air Forces of the two countries which have been significantly enhanced in the past few years.

Minister Anguelov expressed his gratitude to the Ambassador of the Italian Republic for his personal commitment to “Mountain Soldiers” Union of Reserve Officers and Sergeants, Smolyan and the support for their membership in the International Federation of Mountain Soldiers (IFMS).

Today, August 22nd, General Simeon Simeonov, Chief of Defence, met Lieutenant Colonel Stefane Loechleiter, recently appointed Defence Attache of the French Republic.

During the talks bilateral military cooperation between the two countries was discussed.

General Simeonov thanked Colonel Michelle Milliot, former Defence Attache of the French Republic, for his prominent contribution and expressed his belief that the good joint work between the two countries will continue in the future.

General Simeonov and LTC Loechleiter discussed the opportunities for joint trainings of both countries’ Air Forces and the employment of Novo Selo Range Training Center.
The new Defence Attache of the French Republic Lieutenant Colonel Loechleiter also met representatives of the Army and the Air Force.

Deputy Minister of Defence Avgustina Tzvetkova had a working meeting with Mr. Bryan Dalton, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of the USA in Sofia. This has been the first visit of Deputy Chief of Mission Dalton since he took office.

During the talks were discussed issues related to the bilateral cooperation in the area of defence. Deputy Minister Tzvetkova advised Deputy Chief of Mission Dalton of the opportunities for employment of the shared military facilities at Novo Selo Range not only by NATO member states but also by other countries in the region. She expressed her firm belief that by the end of this year Novo Selo Range will be included in Tier III Projects under NATO’s Smart Defence initiative.

Deputy Chief of Mission Dalton was also informed of the establishment and certification process of the NATO Crisis Management and Disaster Relief Center of Excellence (CM/DR CoE) which will support the efforts of all our neighbours at improving their emergency management capabilities.

Deputy Minister Tzvetkova and Deputy Chief of Mission Dalton expressed their confidence in the further promotion of cooperation in the area of defence.

Helicopter COUGAR from Krumovo Airbase joined today, August 15th, at 15:30 h, the Search and Rescue operation to save an injured person in Bansko area, peak Mala Kamenitsa, Pirin.

The injured, with head, body and legs traumas, was successfully transported to the town of Bansko area, the lower lift station.

The S&R operation was performed by crew members Commander Brigadier General Zlatko Zlatev, co-pilot – Major Yordan Yordanov, flight engineer – First Lieutenant Vasil Ganchev and two rescue officers – civilian Anton Hristov and Master Sergeant Georgi Slavov. On board the helicopter were also two rescuers from the Mountain Rescue Service – Ventsislav Nikolov and Petar Damyanov.

The helicopter from Krumovo Airbase joined the operation on the request of the Mountain Rescue Service under the Bulgarian Red Cross which was entered early in the afternoon. The flight was performed with strict adherence to the safety rules and regulations for flights in mountainous and forest areas, very rough terrain and observation of meteorological conditions.