US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has landed at the Bezmer Air Force Base. At the invitation of Bulgarian Minister of Defense Dragomir Zakov, Austin is on a two-day working visit to Bulgaria to discuss the prospects for the further development of bilateral cooperation with the Ministry of Defense.

During the visit Zakov and Austin will hold a meeting with servicemen from both countries, who are participating in the joint Bulgarian-U.S. training at the Novo Selo military According to Minister Zakov, with the invitation of the US Secretary of Defense, Bulgaria is giving a clear signal that it is a reliable ally of NATO. Zakov pointed out that for the first time a Bulgarian battalion is being trained at the Novo Selo training ground, which is under the operational command of the Commander-in-Chief of NATO Armed Forces in Europe.  In Zakov's opinion, the Bulgarian-American joint preparation in Bulgaria is important for the Bulgarian armed forces to acquire preparedness and to react, if necessary, to joint action with our allies in a more serious situation. 

For his part, Lloyd Austin thanked the servicemen involved in the bilateral preparations for the day-to-day efforts to increase interoperability.