A meeting of the Ministers of Defense of the countries from Southeastern Europe will be held in Sofia on March 11, 2008, the Ministry of Defense said. The meeting will be held within the framework of the Bulgarian Chairmanship-in-Office of the Southeast European Cooperation Process (SEECP).

The topic of the forum is: Defense policy for security, cooperation and development of Southeastern Europe.

Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev and Minister of Defense, Vesselin Bliznakov, will greet the participants in the forum. The main priority of Bulgaria's Chairmanship-in-Office of the SEECP is the consolidation of the stability in the region and the strengthening the regional cooperation in a close interaction with the European Union.

The meeting of the Defense Ministers will enable a review of the existing mechanisms of cooperation in the field of defense and will outline the priorities in the work of the newly established Regional Cooperation Council in this area.