U.S. defense secretary adds Bulgaria stop to European trip

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is adding a stop in Bulgaria to a trip to Europe this week that will be focused on bolstering NATO allies as a war rages on its eastern borders in Ukraine, the Pentagon said on Monday.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is adding a stop in Bulgaria to a trip to Europe this week that will be focused on bolstering NATO allies as a war rages on its eastern borders in Ukraine, the Pentagon said on Monday. Austin leaves on Tuesday for Brussels, where he will attend a NATO meeting before traveling to Slovakia, the Pentagon said. In Bulgaria, Austin will meet military and civilian leaders, it said, without offering further details on his agenda.

Bulgaria, Moscow's closest ally during the Cold War, is now a European Union and NATO member state that has condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine.