October 20, 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
On October 20, 2023, head of the U.S. Embassy to Sofia’s Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) LTC David Knox presided over the graduation ceremony for the 22 Ministry of Defense staff members who successfully completed the week-long U.S. Defense Information School (DINFOS) training course on strategic communications.
U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria Kenneth Merten joined Defense Minister Todor Tagarev at the workshop’s opening session and noted that the DINFOS-led training was designed to enable enhanced communications between the Ministry and the Bulgarian media and citizenry. This ability, he explained, represents a key step in any government being equipped to dispel false narratives and keep its public informed in a timely and clear manner about the security threats the country faces, and the steps needed to address those threats.
The weeklong DINFOS course is one part of a series of recent programs the United States and Bulgaria have cooperated on to advance the collective capacity for strategic communications. In September, the National Defense University conducted the course “Strategic Competition in the Cognitive Domain” at Rakovski National Defense College, and on September 25, during the U.S.-Bulgaria Strategic Dialogue in Washington, the United States and Bulgarian governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding for working together to counter foreign manipulation of information.
The U.S. government looks forward to continuing its collaboration with partners in the Bulgarian government and civil society to help insulate our two countries from the dangers of foreign information manipulation.
