At the start of today's cabinet meeting, prime minister Rumen Radev said the government has approved a plan to spend money on five more surface-to-air missile systems. He said a contract is expected within weeks.

Radev said there has been only one contract since 2022, for a single such system. He asked what would cover the country's territory.

The government has also started the process of buying high-end drones to watch Bulgaria's entire exclusive economic zone. It has drawn up a request for information and sent it to leading world firms.

Countering drones in the air and at sea is a hard task that cannot be solved overnight, Radev said. He said it takes time, consistency, a systematic approach and a lot of money, and it needs reliable, accurate and timely information.

Radev recalled that Bulgaria joined the first countries in the European Sky Shield initiative in 2022, on a proposal by Dimitar Stoyanov. In 2023 Stoyanov, caretaker defence minister in the cabinet Radev appointed, added high-end drones for automated reconnaissance systems to the army modernisation programme. "Many governments have come and gone since then. Absolutely nothing - zero," the prime minister said.

Radev thanked the crew of the Bulgarian ship Dioskuria, the rescue teams of the navy and air force, the Border Police, the Maritime Rescue Centre in Varna and the medical teams for helping sailors in distress in the Black Sea. "We have shown once again that for us human life is the highest value," he said. He said Bulgaria can search for and rescue people in accidents in its exclusive economic zone, as international conventions require.

Radev said Bulgaria must guarantee the defence of its territory and add to the defence capabilities of the Alliance. He said the aim should be a lasting peace, not only building up defences. Pouring money into war and endless re-arming, in which systems are constantly replaced, costs far more than efforts for diplomacy and peace, he said. The government will keep working in this direction.

The president has called a Consultative Council on National Security. Radev said the council must not become a stage for pre-election demagoguery, that calm and sober judgment are needed, and that there is no place for hysteria.