In the West but Unlike the Rest: The Bulgarian Defence’s Difficult Path Toward Interoperability

As part of NATO's Eastern flank, Bulgaria’s defence capabilities are crucial to European security. While Sofia has embarked on crucial reforms since the fall of the Communist bloc in 1991, its Armed Forces are still far from being at the same level as its NATO allies. Nevertheless, Bulgaria is boldly enhancing its military power. Initiatives such as its accession to FINABEL show the political commitment to share defence and interoperability.

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France and Italy take major step to Reach Interoperability of European Land Industries

On 29 April 2024, the Italian Minister of Defence Guido Crosetto and his French counterpart Sébastien Lecornu met at the military camp Raffalli in Calvi, Corsica, to sign a Letter of Intent boosting military cooperation between their respective land forces. The two Ministers signed the Letter as part of their commitment to enhance Europe’s defence posture by integrating industrial bases. This partnership allows French and Italian defence companies to share their financial, personnel and technological expertise and build more competitive industrial centres in the domain of Land Forces. By harmonising their standards, equipment, procedures and training protocols during joint operations and missions, the two countries will enhance the effectiveness of Europe’s ground defence capabilities (Ministère des Armées, 2024).

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Internet of Military Things (IoMT): Cybersecurity challenges and non-interoperability

The Internet of Military Things (IoMT) presents widespread opportunities, including enhanced efficiency, real-time decision-making, and improved situational awareness. The IoMT is “driven by military informationization requirement and information technology development. It consists of an information system capturing the physical attributes and state information of military people, equipments and materials by various information sensing means, connecting all kind of operation elements and environment elements as an organic whole by standard communication protocols to process, control and apply intelligently” (Yushi et al., 2018: 632).

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Ukraine-Russia Conflict Enters Third Year: Reflecting on Two Years of Warfare

The war between Ukraine and Russia has now entered its third year since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a ‘Special Military Operation’ on 24 February 2022. The seeds of this conflict date back to 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in south-eastern Ukraine.

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EU’s presence in the Arctic

The EU presence in the Arctic region is acquiring decisive importance in terms of security and defence, especially since the escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian war. However, not only geopolitical rivalries are an important change, but also the opportunism of the effect of global warming and the increase in commercial interest in natural resources. The joint communication of 2021, October 13, A stronger EU engagement for a peaceful, sustainable and prosperous Arctic, proposed that the EU pursue a secure, stable, sustainable, peaceful, and prosperous Arctic region. There is a need to adopt a strengthened maritime security policy, especially in the areas of economic development, free trade, transport, and energy security.

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