SOFIA, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Bulgarian President Rumen Radev here on Monday called the European Union (EU) members to cooperate in the research, development and acquisition of military equipment.
"The lack of cooperation between EU member states in the area of security and defense causes losses estimated at 25 billion to 100 billion euros per year," said Radev while addressing a defense industry conference.
The EU shows a "fragmented approach" to the development and acquisition of basic combat systems, Radev said.
As a result, the basic combat systems in the EU numbered 178 types, while in the United States they were only 30, said Radev, who until last August was commander of the Bulgarian Air Force.
There were 17 main types of battle tanks in the EU, and only one type in the United States, he added.
Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev, who also attended the event, echoed that it was a historical irony that the EU had very strong common policies in fields such as agriculture and environmental protection, and allocated a lot of funds there, but did not have similar actions and policies in defense and security.
Despite the specifics of the military industry, the EU needed a pan-European logic in the organization of defense capabilities and supply management, Donchev said.
"This would allow us to have better weapons at an undoubtedly more competitive price," Donchev said. (1 euro = 1.14 U.S. dollars)
