Direct military aggression against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bulgaria as a member of NATO and the EU is not probable at present, said Simeon Nikolov, member of the Governing Board of the Bulgarian Diplomatic Society (BDS), according to BTA. He was speaking at a BTA-hosted news conference on Tuesday where the BDS presented its annual analysis on international politics and Bulgarian diplomacy in 2019.

The participants in the news conference called for the adoption of a foreign policy strategy of Bulgaria.

Nikolov said that in terms of military strategy, the biggest threat to Europe and the world stems from, most of all, the emerging loss of some of the mechanisms for controlling armament  in the form of agreements. According to him, an agreement is urgently needed to regulate the development of artificial intelligence for military purposes and the use of drones.

According to Nikolov, it is particularly important that Bulgaria  not become a front belt and that it avoid the Black Sea's further militarization. He outlined as a very perspective initiative the establishment of a common European defence, but expressed concern that Bulgaria might remain in the periphery of  this integration process.

Lyubomir Kyuchyukov commented that the situation in the Balkans is insecure as a result of the process of transition from a bipolar to a multipolar world model. In his words, this process has turned the Balkans into a field for defending global players' interests. There has been a certain abdication of the EU from the Balkan region, mainly from the Western Balkans, the analyst argued.
   
He also said that 2019 was a catastrophic year for international  law in view of the violations of existing international agreements.
 
Andrey Karaslavov said that Bulgaria's foreign policy follows the lines set by Brussels, thus losing its individual image.

#POLITICS

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#NIKOLOV

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#KARASLAVOV

14.01.2020 20:19