Deputy Minister of Defence Mrs. Avgustina Tzvetkova closed NATO’ “Female Leadership in Defence and Security” Project International Conference. In conclusion Mrs. Tzvetkova pointed out that the event has marked the successful commencement of the Project and further forums will look into the practical implementation of the proposals made and will set guidelines for work orientated at the strategic decision-making level.

On her part, Vice Admiral Carol Pottenger, Deputy Chief of Staff Capability and Development at NATO Headquarters Supreme Allied Command Transformation highly evaluated the organization and work of the Conference. She noted that a joint report-analysis of the Project development is to be elaborated and will be introduced not only to the states-participants in the project but also to all Alliance member states and partners.

The last working panel of the Conference – “The Way Ahead”, was addressed by Mr. Frank Boland, Director of Force Planning, NATO Defence Policy and Planning Directorate, NATO International Staff and Major General Karl Engelbrektson, Swedish Military Representative to the European Union and NATO.

The Forum was also addressed by General John Allen, Commander International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Afghanistan, and Major General Erhard Drews, Commander KFOR (Kosovo). In his video address he pointed out that each Liaison Group should feature at least one female member in its structure because in this way the interaction with native population would be much more facilitated, stronger relationships could be formed and the outcomes of the Group’s efforts are more productive.

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The two-day Forum of NATO’s “Female Leadership in Defence and Security” Project International Conference was held under the patronage of Mr. Rosen Plevneliev, President of the Republic of Bulgaria and Commander-in-Chief of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. Over 90 representatives of various leading levels from 21 NATO member states and Partnership for Peace partners took part in the event.

The conferees discussed issues related to the role of the strategic leadership in capabilities building process, the diversity of human resources in the area of security and defence and the prospect for improvement of operational effectiveness.

"I speak to you today from Afghanistan, a country whose culture, history and traditions differ from those of its partner nations in the ISAF Coalition. Despite these differences, the results of our united efforts in supporting the rebuilding of peaceful Afghanistan are undeniably evident, especially in the area of human and women’s rights,” the Commander of ISAF, General John Allen, said today, 11 July 2912, in his video message to the participants in the international conference on the topic “Female Leaders in Security and Defense: a Roadmap to Turn Potential into Capabilities”. The strategic forum, part of the NATO project, is conducted in Sofia, and more than 90 specialists at different leadership levels from 21 NATO member countries as well as countries of the Partnership for Peace program participate in the event.

"Among the most satisfying measures with respect to the progress in the past decade is the dramatically expanded role of women in Afghan society. We in ISAF are committed to supporting Afghanistan in sustaining these hard won advances and furthering the women’s participation in all aspects of society,” General John Allen said emphasizing that the achieved progress in this respect is of decisive importance for “unlocking” the full human potential of the Afghan people.

The Commander of ISAF pointed out that critical to ISAF’s support for women are the gender advisers who coordinate the joint efforts within the Headquarters and the subordinated commands. He added that conducting this high strategic level forum is a proof of NATO’s commitment to providing for the participation of all Afghan women in the future development of the country and that through such meetings the potential will turn into capabilities.

The second day of the Conference continues with addresses and discussions on the topic “Perspectives for operational effectiveness. The participants will discuss issues related to integrating gender perspectives into the process of capabilities development; participation of women in operations – operational imperative and force preparedness, coordinated implementation of Resolution 1325 of the UN Security Council and the experience of individual nations.

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The international conference, which is a part of NATO’s project “Female leaders in security and defense”, is conducted under the patronage of the President and Supreme Commander of the armed forces of the Republic of Bulgaria Mr. Rosen Plevneliev.
Yesterday, 10 July 2012, the keynote address was delivered by the special guest lecturer the Vice President of the Republic of Bulgaria Mrs. Margarita Popova.

The goal of the project, which is among the priority projects within the framework of the NATO Smart Defense Initiative, is to provide a political impetus towards a dialogue at a higher level on strengthening the participation of women and their contribution to peace and security. The project is implemented under the leadership of the Deputy Minister of Defense Mrs. Avgustina Tzvetkova.

“Conducting this conference is a clear demonstration of the critical role that strategic leadership should play in order to ensure that defense institutions and Armed Forces benefit from the experience and knowledge of women and are able to integrate their perspectives in planning and decision-making in a complex security environment,” the Deputy Minister of defense Avgustina Tzvetkova said today, 10 July 2012, in her keynote address in the course of the first panel of the international conference “Female leaders in security and defense”.

So far, individual countries and NATO as a whole have undertaken actions primarily on an operational level. We however need to consolidate our policies on the basis of existing best practices and lessons learned on the operational and tactical levels and to incorporate them into our process of capabilities building,” Deputy Minister Tzvetkova added. She pointed out that the policy makers at the highest strategic level, both men and women, need to lead the way by setting examples and ensure equal opportunities for professional advancement. In this respect, the role of political and military leaders is crucial.

Deputy Minister Tzvetkova informed the forum on the decision of the Ministry of Defense to open all command courses and all professional posts to women in the Armed Forces. “This decision was a result of a process of interaction and exchange of views between the Ministry of Defence and the “Bulgarian Armed Forces Women Association”. These consultations helped us identify existing gaps. In this process, the leadership of the Ministry has gradually developed an understanding of the core of the issue and was therefore able to make important decisions with long-term implications for the Armed Forces,” Deputy Minister Tzvetkova pointed out. She said also that it is necessary to introduce policies that would enable changes in attitude and understanding of the role of women. Good practices introduced and implemented by individual countries should be discussed and promoted, epmasized Deputy Minister Tzvetkova.

In conclusion, Deputy Minister Tzvetkova said that in order to ensure the continuity of the process, Bulgaria proposes to host a workshop of experts within few months of this conference. The idea is to have targeted discussions among national experts on topics of priority that will be identified during the course of our discussions today and tomorrow.

Vice Admiral Carol Pottenger deputy chief of staff Capability and Development at NATO Headquarters Supreme Allied Command Transformation, Norfolk, Virginia, and Jessica Wight Assistant Secretary of Defense at the United States Department of Defense delivered keynote addresses in the panel on the topic “The role of strategic leadership in the capability building process – opportunities, obligations and responsibilities”.

You can read the complete text of the address of Deputy Minister Avgustina Tzvetkova here.

I can declare with courage that there is no “glass ceiling” in the Bulgarian armed forces which impedes the career development of women,” Minister Anu Anguelov said at the opening of the international conference conducted within the implementation of a NATO project “Female Leaders in Security and Defense”. In Bulgaria, we eliminated all legal and practical barriers against the inclusion of women at all levels in the army. There are no activities or specialties to which the access of women with respect to military service is restricted,” he added pointing out that present a little more than 14% of the personnel of the Bulgarian armed forces are women, and expressed his regret that they are basically privates, a smaller percent of the women serving in the army are non-commissioned officers, and in the officers’ corps the women constitute merely 1,41%.

Minister Anguelov declared his support in favor of increasing this percentage and expressed his hope that in 5-6 years there will be a female General or Admiral. He declared that within the National Guards Unit which has a history of more than 130 years, for the first time there is a guardswoman, who will serve fulfilling her military duty and she will perform duties in front of the building of the Presidency. “This practically finalizes the process of opening all specialties to women,” Minister Anu Anguelov said.

He admitted that this process has been accompanied by numerous prejudices and stereotypes, and called to memory the fact that twenty years ago there were an insignificant number of specialties, ranks and positions which were accessible to women in the Bulgarian armed forces. “This process was not and still is not characterized by a lack of problems, but I cannot imagine any military formation, any structure without the indisputable professionalism and specific approach to service demonstrated by women in uniform in solving different issues of importance, “ Minister Anguelov said and turned to the participants in the Forum asking them to solve the issues not only in their legal perspective but also to work towards changing the mentality and the organizational culture.

“Today it is clear for all of us that defense and security is not and cannot be a territory reserved for men only in the armed forces and security forces,” made a general conclusion Minister Anguelov.

The conference “Roadmap to turn potential in capabilities” is the first event of the project “Female leaders in defense and security”, in which Bulgaria is a leading nation. A keynote address to the participant in the forum delivered Marie Yovanovitch, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the USA for European and Eurasian Affairs, and Roumyana Bachvarova, Chief of the political Cabinet of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria.

In the course of the three-day conference, more than 90 experts at different leadership levels from 21 NATO member countries and countries participating in the Program Partnership for Peace will discuss topics related to the role of the strategic leadership in the process of building capabilities, the diversity of human resources in the sphere of security and defense, and the opportunities to increase the operational effectiveness.

NATO’s “Female Leadership in Defence and Security” Project International Conference starts tomorrow, July 10, 2012 in Sofia. The participants in the Forum will be addressed by Mr. Anu Anguelov, Minister of Defence, and H.E. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, U.S. Department of State. Keynote guest-speakers at the Conference will be Mrs. Tsetska Tsacheva, Chair of the National Assembly and Mrs. Margarita Popova, Vice President of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The strategic Forum, devoted to “The Role of Female Leaders in Security and Defence: a Roadmap to Turn Potential into Capabilities” is held under the patronage of Mr. Rosen Plevneliev, President of the Republic of Bulgaria and Commander-in-Chief of the Bulgarian Armed Forces.

During the two-day Conference over 90 representatives of various leading levels from 21 NATO member states and Partnership for Peace partners will discuss issues related to the role of the strategic leadership in capabilities building process, the diversity of human resources in the area of security and defence and the prospect for improvement of operational effectiveness. The goal of the Forum is to give an impetus to a higher-level dialogue on the enhancement of women’s participation and contribution to peace and stability.

During the first Panel of the Conference, devoted to Strategic Leadership for Capabilities Building: Opportunities, Commitment, Responsibilities, presentations will be delivered by Mrs. Jessica L. Wright, Assistant Secretary of Defence for Reserve Affairs, U.S. Department of Defence, Vice Admiral Carol Pottenger, Deputy Chief of Staff Capability and Development at NATO Headquarters Supreme Allied Command Transformation and Mrs. Avgustina Tzvetkova, Deputy Minister of Defence of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The International Conference will be opened tomorrow, July 10, 2012 at 10:00 o’clock at the Kempinski Hotel Zografski, Sofia.