Bulgaria i en knipe

14 October 2014 Last updated at 00:29 GMT

Bulgaria's military warned of Soviet-era 'catastrophe'

By Nick Thorpe BBC News, Sofia

Bulgaria relies on Russia for the maintenance and overhaul of its ageing fleet of MiG-29 fighters

"Catastrophic consequences" await the Bulgarian armed forces if they are not weaned soon from dependence on old Russian equipment and repairs, according to outgoing Defence Minister Velizar Shalamanov.

He was speaking in a BBC interview amid a war of words that has broken out between Bulgaria and Russia over Russian involvement in Ukraine and Russian pressure to speed up work on the South Stream gas pipeline, which will cross Bulgaria.
As an EU and Nato member with strong traditional links to Russia, Bulgaria is walking a tightrope between East and West.
Bulgaria was said to have frozen work on the Russian gas pipeline project in August, under EU and US pressure. According to Russia, work on the ground continues.
'Extremely unworthy'
Tensions between Bulgaria and Russia grew when President Rosen Plevneliev described Russia as "a nationalist and aggressive state" for its involvement in Ukraine.