NATO Secretary-General Visiting Bulgaria on Thursday

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is due to meet with top Bulgarian officials on Thursday in what a spokesperson for the alliance has described as a visit without any specific occasion.

Stoltenberg will hold conversations with Bulgaria's President Rosen Plevneliev and Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, but also with Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov and Defense Minister Nikolay Nenchev.

"This visit is not related to any concrete problem - it is part of the Secretary-General's plan to visit all NATO allies," Carmen Romero, NATO's Deputy Spokesperson, has told the Bulgarian National Radio.

"I would like to stress that Bulgaria is among the first countries to which he is going since he was elected to the office in October of last year," Romero added.

Stoltenberg is expected to discuss key challenges ahead of NATO allies and to express his gratitude to Bulgaria for taking part in all operations of the alliance, she has argued.

But some media reports over the past few days suggest specific issues such as defense spending, which NATO believes should be boosted in each member state to reach 2 percent of GDP by 2020 (compared to the current 1.3 percent in Bulgaria), will be at the core of Stoltenberg's conversations with Bulgarian politicians.

President Plevneliev agreed last year Bulgaria would seek to fulfill this requirement, but PM Borisov denied to increase the military spending this year, saying the government was unable to set aside any additional funding.

Stoltenberg who took over in 2014 from Anders Fogh Rasmussen, is also a former Norwegian Prime Minister.

Originally posted here:
NATO Secretary-General Visiting Bulgaria on Thursday