BOLD (Bulgarian Community for Liberal Democracy) invites you to a discussion aimed at shedding light on the state of the armed forces, security services and civilian control over them, and how they are changing because of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

This is the third event in the series “Bulgarian Roads in the Shadow of War”, in which we analyse the impact of the war on Bulgaria. Around the time of Bulgaria’s entry into NATO in 2004, a number of initiatives began to reform the military and security sector, and as the principles of a democratic society demand, thought began to be given to introducing effective democratic control over them. Bulgaria had to adequately integrate into NATO, participate in multinational forces, rearm, modernise personnel, reform military education, review the role and scope of the military prosecutor’s office and military courts, and ensure the integrity of the special services. Twenty years later, we have no reason to be proud of positive changes. Rearmament did not happen. There are signs that the Kremlin’s doctrine and practice of hybrid warfare in Bulgaria has been largely successful. Civil society is effectively excluded from participation in civilian control in these areas.

In the discussion we will pose the following questions: what are the problems and needs for Bulgaria to have an effective defence capability and guaranteed national security? What reforms are needed? Are we a fair partner in NATO? What is and what should be our strategy for providing military assistance to Ukraine? How to build a system to counter Kremlin hybrid influence in key ministries and specialized structures related to defence and national security, including in terms of regulations, human resources, institutional capacity? How to counter the disproportionate institutional use of terms such as “classified information”, “top secret”, etc., enabling complete opacity and the introduction of tacit policies contrary to our civilizational choices?

Panelists:

Prof. Velizar Shalamanov – Minister (2014) and Dep. Minister (1998-2001) of Defence, NATO Director (2009-2017), Member of Parliament (2021)

Prof. Todor Tagarev – military expert, various posts within Bulgarian defence   

Valeri Rachev – security and defence analyst

Dr. Dafinka Sidova – Expert on Security Strategies and Policies, New Bulgarian University

Moderators: Dr Dimitrina Petrova and Victor Lilov (BOLD)

Participation is free, but places are limited. Please register here.

The event is held with the financial support of the Active Citizens Bulgaria Fund (www.activecitizensfund.bg) under the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism.