Brussels, 3 July 2025
Member of the European Parliament and member of the SEDE committee Željana Zovko will participate in an EPP mission in Bulgaria from 3 to 4 July 2025, to discuss the strengthening of EU defence through EU investments and initiatives.
At the Bulgarian National Assembly, Zovko will meet with Boyko Borisov, former Prime Minister and chair of the parliamentary group Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB). The EPP delegation will also meet with Atanas Zapryanov, Minister of Defence, and Hristo Gadzhev, chair of the committee on defence of the Bulgarian National Assembly.
Zovko will also visit defence industry manufacturers, both large state-owned as well as private, and small and high-tech companies with dual use products.
This mission to Bulgaria aims at promoting the Security Action for Europe Regulation (SAFE) and the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP), whose objective is to boost defence production and reinforce the EU’s Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB). The mission will also focus on the need to encourage Member States to use the EU’s instruments to strengthen defence capabilities. Moreover, the discussions will include the need to address the challenges that SMEs in the defence sector are facing.
This visit represents an excellent opportunity to engage in a discussion with the parliament as well as defence companies of a Member State to strengthen the EU’s defence readiness, in a context of growing security threats.