September 14 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria and Ukraine will sign a memorandum of intent to step up cooperation in defence, in line with a declaration adopted by the Bulgarian parliament in July which supports Ukraine's future accession to NATO, the government in Sofia said.
The memorandum, approved by the cabinet on Wednesday, outlines broad areas of cooperation in science and technology, development of military education, exchange of experience in the preparation and use of armed forces, development of communication, information, navigation and sensor systems, military medicine and other areas of mutual interest, the government said in a press release.
The government authorised defence minister Todor Tagarev to sign the memorandum.
"The signing of the agreement does not create legal obligations for the parties and does not imply the expenditure of additional funds from the state budget," the government noted.
Bulgaria and Ukraine agreed to strengthen their cooperation in energy and defence during a visit by Ukrainian president Volodymir Zelenskyy to Sofia in July. Later that month, the Bulgarian parliament decided to provide Ukraine with additional military aid in the form of Soviet-made armoured vehicles no longer needed by the police force, together with the armament available as well as spare parts.