General Colby Broadwater, Chief of Staff of the United States European Command, met with the leadership of the Foreign Policy, Defence and Security Committee.

National Assembly Vice-President and Vice-Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Younal Loutfi, and the Chairman of the Simeon II National Movement Parliamentary Group, Mr. Stanimir Ilchev, acquainted their guest with the highlights of the Plan 2007-2015 on Restructuring and Modernization of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. The two sides agreed that the Plan requires financial resources and General Broadwater underscored that Bulgaria could rely on the USA in this respect.

The leadership of the Foreign Policy, Defence and Security Committee informed the Chief of Staff of the US European Command that during the 2005-2015 period 25 per cent of the Defence Ministry’s budget would be allocated for modernization of the Bulgarian Armed Forces.

General Broadwater asked the MPs of the Foreign Policy, Defence and Security Committee to convey his condolences to the relatives of Senior Sergeant Vladimir Pashov, the Bulgarian serviceman who was killed in Karbala, Iraq, on Sunday.