2024-02-19 12:54:44
The Chief of Defense Admiral Emil Eftimov will present tomorrow the “Analysis of the State and Preparation of the Armed Forces in 2023”, the press center of the Ministry of Defense announced. The presentation of the analysis marks the beginning of the annual conference of the Chief of Defense, which will be held in the period February 20 – 22.
The President and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of Bulgaria Rumen Radev has been invited to attend the presentation of the analysis. The event will be attended by the Minister of Defense Todor Tagarev, the Chairman of the Defense Commission Hristo Gadjev, the high command staff of the Bulgarian Army, national representatives in the command structures of NATO and the European Union, heads of structures in state institutions, directors of directorates in the Defense Headquarters and the Ministry of Defense, heads and commanders of structures directly subordinate to the Minister of Defense, the Ministry of Defense indicates.
On the second and third day of the conference, reports will be presented by the Defense Headquarters, commanders of various armed forces, national representatives in the command structures of NATO and the European Union, as well as by representatives of departmental institutions in the field of defense and national security.
The topical theme of this year’s forum is: “Challenges for national planning, conducting and ensuring operations in the context of the alliance’s defense plans.” the Deputy Chief of Staff for Support at the NATO-Naples Joint Force Command, Major General Wilhelm Grün, and the Commander of NATO’s Rapid Deployment Corps in Greece, Lieutenant General Athanasios Garinis, will be involved.
Bulgaria is one of the 18 NATO member states that this year will allocate two percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) to defense spending. “Both this year with the defense spending set, and next year, the target will be met and exceeded.” More than 2% (2.05%) of the GDP is set aside for defense, and this gives us the opportunity to invest very seriously in people, as well as in armaments and equipment,” Todor Tagarev explained at the end of last year. He explained that this year the defense budget is BGN 800 million bigger, and next year it will be BGN 800 million bigger than the current one.