AFP, SOFIA: The seven ex-Soviet bloc states who join NATO next week are trying to modernise their armies on shoestring budgets to meet the standards of the former Cold War alliance and to show that size is not all that counts.
Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia say they have already shown in peacekeeping missions abroad that they can work as part of the NATO team.
“We have proven that we are operationally compatible as part of NATO in international missions” in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo and Bosnia, Bulgarian Defence Minister Nikolai Svinarov told AFP.
But the minister admits that modernising their outdated military equipment is “a long-term aim.”
A NATO diplomat in Sofia however said the alliance had not picked its new members for their firepower but for strategic reasons.
“NATO is well-equipped and does not need a single tank from its new members. These states are useful to the alliance because of their participation in international contingents and their strategic position.”
Bulgarian military analyst Velizar Chalamanov said the new members should look to multinational projects as they update their armies “because these are less expensive.”
He said joint projects will also ensure that new member states use the same equipment and have “better technological compatibility.”
This approach is being followed by the Baltic states who adopted a common air surveillance system, Baltnet, which was developed by the US' Lockheed Martin and Norway's Scan-Matic.
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are also already cooperating with the German military which is overseeing the command and control of their armies.
The three former Soviet states do not have fighter aircraft and have asked NATO to ensure their air defence.
Slovenia, a former Yugoslav republic, is faced with the same problem and announced on Friday that Italy would protect its air space.
Countries like Bulgaria and Slovenia who have Russian MiG-29 fighter aircraft are trying to update them to meet NATO standards.
Svinarov said France has offered to sponsor a project by the French company Sagem to update the planes as well as Bulgaria's 36 Mi-17 and Mi-24 helicopters and to allow Sofia to repay the cost “over a long period once the project has been completed.”
The new members are also looking to conclude military projects with current members that include off-set contracts to allow them to profit from NATO expertise to improve their military might.
Bucharest has concluded a contract with Britain's Royal Navy to buy two frigates, the price of which will be off-set by an agreement that 80 percent of the sum will be paid in Romanian military equipment.
Romania has also inked a “strategic partnership” with the US group Northrop Grumman since Washington announced plans to move its military bases to eastern Europe.
Bulgaria has just completed the first of 68 projects aimed at modernising its military that will cost a total 1.3 billion euros (1.57 billion dollars).
The country's infantry brigade destined to be deployed abroad is being equiped with a new communication system by the Italian company Marconi at a cost of 58 million dollars in a project that should be completed at the end of this year.
Daimler-Chrysler has been contracted to replace the Bulgarian army's fleet of vehicles to the cost of 256 million euros over the next eight years.
The Canadian company Intelcan is building a third military airport for Bulgaria at Bezmer, in the southeast, according to NATO standards.
On top of that a new air defence system is being installed at Sofia's international airport and the government plans to build six Corvette patrol vessels for the navy with the help of a foreign company.
