Deputy Defense Minister receives Bulgarian Defense Attaché

Sr. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Truong Thang and Lt. Col. Georgi Veselinov Kalchev, Bulgarian Defense Attaché to Vietnam

At the meeting, Vietnamese Deputy Defense Minister congratulated Lt. Col. Georgi Veselinov Kalchev on his appointment and welcomed Bulgaria’s decision to reappoint a Defense Attaché to Vietnam after the post had been vacant since 2010. He said the move reflected the two countries’ determination to strengthen practical and effective bilateral defense cooperation.

He also praised the traditional friendship between Vietnam and Bulgaria, built and nurtured by generations of leaders over many decades. He noted with satisfaction the Joint Statement upgrading bilateral relations to a strategic partnership during the official visit to Bulgaria by To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, in October 2025.

A view of the meeting

The defense leader said that, based on signed agreements, including the Memorandum of Understanding on defense cooperation in 2013 and the Letter of Intent on strengthening defense ties in 2025, the bilateral cooperation has continued to advance with encouraging results in delegation exchanges, high-level contacts, training, and defense industry cooperation.

Looking ahead, he proposed that both sides further expand cooperation in delegation exchanges at all levels, especially senior-level visits; working group mechanisms and defense policy dialogue; study tours and rest visits; training; search and rescue; mine clearance; cybersecurity; telecommunications; military medicine; and academic exchanges. He added that Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defense is ready to receive Bulgarian military personnel for the Vietnamese language training and international defense officials’ courses at its academies and schools.

Sr. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Truong Thang also invited the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense to send senior delegations and defense industry enterprises to the third Vietnam Defense Expo, slated for December 2026.

Sr. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Truong Thang presents a souvenir to Lt. Col. Georgi Veselinov Kalchev.

For his part, Lt. Col. Georgi Veselinov Kalchev thanked the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense for the warm reception and said he was honored to serve as Bulgaria’s Defense Attaché to Vietnam. He expressed strong support for the cooperation proposals discussed at the meeting, particularly in training and delegation exchanges.

He affirmed that he would work closely with Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defense to further promote cooperation between the two countries and their defense ministries in an effective manner.

Translated by Tran Hoai