WEBVTT

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(Prime Minister Boyko
speaking foreign language)

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- [Translator] Good morning, good morning.

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Once again, Mr. Stoltenberg,
the Secretary General of NATO

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has been to Bulgaria before.

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A few months ago at the meeting at the UN

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at the reception of
President Trump, we met,

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and there were many topics,
many things that Bulgaria

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has done for NATO as one
of the most disciplined

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and loyal members of NATO,
we invited him to come here

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to make an overview of
what we have done so far,

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but let's turn the floor to our guest.

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- Prime Minister Borisov
Boyko, thank you so much

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for hosting me and my
delegation here in Sofia.

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It is really a great
pleasure to meet you again.

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As you said, we met in New York

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during the reception
hosted by President Trump.

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And then you invited me
and it's a great pleasure

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for me to be here and meet
with you and your delegation.

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I'm pleased to be here also a few days

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before your National Day.

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I would like to start by thanking Bulgaria

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for being such a committed
and highly valued ally

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in the Alliance, and we
appreciate your loyalty,

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your commitment to the Alliance.

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Bulgaria contributes
to our shared security

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in many different ways.

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You participated in different
NATO missions and operations.

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You play a strategic role
in the Black Sea Region.

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You contribute to our
mission in Afghanistan,

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fighting international terrorism.

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You have played a key role
for many years in Kosovo,

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in our K4 Mission, and you're also part

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of the NATO training mission in Iraq.

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And you also have a presence
in other NATO missions

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and operations, and we are
extremely grateful for that.

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This year we celebrate the
70th anniversary of NATO,

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but you also celebrate
the 15th anniversary

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of Bulgaria joining NATO.

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And the enlargement of NATO with Bulgaria

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has contributed to strengthen the Alliance

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and has helped to strengthen
our collective defense

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and is important both for
Bulgaria, for the region,

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and for NATO.

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We very much appreciate also the way

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you have supported the
process which has enabled

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North Macedonia to sign an
Accession Protocol with NATO

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and now North Macedonia
is on their way to become

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a full member of the Alliance.

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The fact that you signed the
Friendship Treaty with Skopje

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in 2017 have helped to
build the confidence

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and pave the way for the Prespa agreement,

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and now North Macedonia
is set to join NATO.

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Allies have already started to rectify

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the Accession Protocol and
I welcomed just last week

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the Bulgarian Parliament
voted unanimously to rectify

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the accession of North
Macedonia into NATO.

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Once that process has been
completed by all allies,

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North Macedonia will become
the 30th member of NATO.

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This is good for the region and it's good

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for Euro-Atlantic security.

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And I thank you very much
for playing a key role

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in making that process possible.

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In a more unpredictable world,

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it is important to have
friends and allies.

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Together we are more effective in dealing

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with our most pressing
security challenges,

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and that includes the Russian
violation of the INF Treaty.

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This treaty has been a
cornerstone for arms control

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for decades.

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NATO does not want a new cold war,

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we don't want a new arms race,

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and if we call Russia to
come back into compliance

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with the INF Treaty,
these new Russian missiles

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are nuclear capable, the
can reach European cities,

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they are hard to detect and
they have little warning time.

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So they're used, they reduce the threshold

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for any potential use of nuclear weapons

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in an armed conflict,

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and therefore it is
important that we continue

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to call Russia to come
back into compliance.

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At the same time, we need to be prepared

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for a world without the INF Treaty,

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and with more Russian missiles.

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In a more uncertain world, we
must invest in our security.

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So I welcome the fact
that Bulgaria has started

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to invest more in defense,
and also the clear commitment

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of Bulgaria to reach the NATO
goal of spending 2% of GDP

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on defense, and also the fact

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that you have so clearly also
stated that you will report

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all your expenditures, including pensions.

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This enables Bulgaria to
report defense spending

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in the same way as other allies.

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And that is important because
then we get a full picture

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of what Bulgaria does when it
comes to investing in defense.

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So, we continue to count
on Bulgaria as a committed

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and loyal NATO ally, we
are extremely grateful

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for your contributions,
and it's always great

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to see you, Mr. Prime Minister.

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Thank you so much.

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(Prime Minister Boyko
speaking foreign language)

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- [Translator] Thank you too.

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There was just one criticism
by Mr. Stoltenberg to us,

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and I'll leave this for you to see.

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And this was that when we
had the report on those 2%,

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Bulgaria does not include the pensions

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for military personnel, that
is, the percentage is higher.

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So we are so modest, we are
paying this for this modesty.

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So for Bulgarian citizens,

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with regard to what the
Secretary General said,

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I will give you some statistics
of the past two years,

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so you can hear this in summary.

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So the statistics came
from Mr. Kar-a-ka-jon-ov

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and General Botsev.

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In Kosovo, the NATO mission,
1100 military personnel.

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We have now 22,

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and then we have six million costs

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for the operational reserve.

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In Afghanistan we have now
158 people and we have had,

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through the missions over
ten thousand military staff.

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500 million level of costs

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for defense.

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NATO trainings in the country
and outside the country,

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2017, 11 trainings, in 2018, 10 trainings,

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5000 military staff, 10 tanks
and 10 artillery systems.

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Trainings of NATO, NATO
trainings in Bulgaria,

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185 military personnel,

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3500 military personnel,

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30 tanks, 30 combat vehicles
and 10 artillery systems.

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For 2017, we had also new equipment,

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and 2018 even more.

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Outside Bulgaria, heavy equipment,

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over a hundred in 2017 in the trainings,

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and over 60 in 2018.

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Naval forces, five trainings, 3000 staff.

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In 2018, four trainings,
1800 staff, 50 in ships.

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Air force 2017, eight
trainings, 5500 military staff.

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2018, seven trainings, over 7000 staff,

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two helicopters and 53 aircraft.

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These are just part of the statistics,

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and they give an idea about
Bulgaria's contribution

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to NATO.

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And since I know how such
meetings are presented

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to the public, I would
like to let you know

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that the Secretary General

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and the highly esteemed delegation is here

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by an invitation that
I made a long time ago.

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This was before the
meeting that was arranged

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with Med-ve-dov.

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Second, we have not
discussed energy projects.

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We did not talk about
NATO and energy projects,

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and I'm saying this in the presence

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of the Secretary General
and his delegation

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because of the many
interpretations on this issue.

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Even more, you heard,
we are seeking a dialog

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with Russia at the same
time, we have to be--