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.

Today, 18 June 2012, the Deputy Minister of Defense Avgustina Tzvetkova met with representatives of the Club of Foreign Journalists in Bulgaria.

In the course of the talks, Deputy Minister Tzvetkova provided the journalists with information on the project “Female Leaders in Security and Defense” as well as with details on the first strategic conference dedicated to the topic “A Roadmap to Turning Potential into Capabilities”, which will be held in the period 9-11 July 2012 in Sofia. “This is the first ground-breaking conference and I believe that it will turn into a forum at which decisions will be made and guidance with practical orientation will be provided,” the Deputy Minister Tzvetkova pointed out.

The strategic forum is a part of a project under NATO Smart Defense Initiative. The goal of the Conference, which will be conducted under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces Rossen Plevneliev, is to provide political impetus towards a dialog at a higher level with a view to enhancing female participation and female leaders’ contribution to peace and stability.

“In the process of building capabilities, it is crucial to employ the whole human potential and include all persons who are professionals and who work in the sphere of security and defense in the decision making process,” said the Deputy Minister of Defense Tzvetkova emphasizing that this is one of the priority project within the framework of NATO smart defense initiative.

At the meeting, which was conducted in the Ministry of Defense, Deputy Minister Tzvetkova pointed out that the keynote speakers at the Forum will be the Vice-President of the Republic of Bulgaria Margarita Popova, Marie Yovanovitch ,US Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, Vice Admiral Carol Pottenger, as well as the Minister of Defense of Montenegro Milica Pejanovic –Djurisic.

In response to journalists’ questions, Deputy Minister Tzvetkova explained that at present women constitute approximately 14 percent in the armed forces of the Republic of Bulgaria, and emphasized that for two years now all restrictions related to opportunities for education and career development have been abolished.

Additional information on the Project is available at http://flsd.mod.bg/

“It is a pleasure for us to provide everything that is necessary in order have the new Techopark in Sofia built,” the Minister of Defense Anu Anguelov said today, 18 June 2012, while the President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rossen Plevneliev, he, and the Minister of the Economy, Energy and Tourism Delyan Dobrev were on tour in the region of the Logistics brigade where it is envisioned for the Technological Park to be built.

The Ministry of Defense will provide against payment the Ministry of the Economy, Energy and Tourism with a building lot necessary for the technological part to be built.

In the course of the tour, the President Rossen Plevneliev thanked Miniser Anguelov for providing the building lot for this project, and the Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Delyan Dobrev emphasized that the Ministry of Defense provides the land at a price much lower than the actual one- five million leva.

Minister Anguelov pointed out that the Ministry of Defense does its best in order to open up a possibility to build a stadium, and to this end one battalion of the Joint Forces Command will be moved to Gorna Banya area, however the western part of the lot will be preserved.

At a later stage, answering journalists’ questions, Minister Anguelov said that he had introduced a draft decision to the Council of Ministers, and this document suggests to the President of the Republic of Bulgaria to extend by two years the tour of duty of the Chief of Defense, General Simeon Simeonov.

The Chief of Defense General Simeon Simeonov departs today, 18 June 2012, for Zagreb, the Republic of Croatia. He will participate in the Annual NATO ACT Conference on the topic “NATO Chicago Summit outcomes and reviewing the concepts on the Alliance’s development”.

The Chiefs of Defense of the NATO member countries as well as experts in the sphere related to developing strategic conceptual documents will participate in the two-day forum.

The Chicago Summit outcomes, the concepts and processes through which the NATO member countries and the partner countries will be able to contribute to the Alliance’s transformation and development will be discussed at the Conference.

The Bulgarian-American joint training “Thracian Spring 2012”started today, 14 June 2012, and it will continue until 29 June 2012. The joint training is conducted in Plovdiv area, southern Bulgaria, and forces and materiel of the Ministry of Defense, the Bulgarian army, the Ministry of Interior, and the US Air Force in Europe, will take part in the drills.

From the American side, a number of transport Hercules C-130 aircraft and up to 150 servicemen, and from the Bulgarian side one transport C-27 J Spartan aircraft, one air defense missile division, a special unit of the Ministry of Interior, and up to 580 servicemen, 350 of whom from 68th Special Forces brigade of the Bulgarian Land Forces, will participate in the training.

During the drills, daylight and night training jumps and combat parachute jumps from Hercules C-130 aircraft and from C-27J Spartan aircraft will be performed. The Bulgarian and the American crews will conduct tactical low altitude flights, transport of troops and cargo, tactical air dropping and landing as well as different ways of delivering humanitarian assistance for population in distress.
Representatives of the European Defense Agency will participate as observers in the training.

The commander of the joint training is Colonel Yavor Mateev, Chief of Joint Facilities Department to the Ministry of Defense.