2024-09-09 02:19:08
For now, we do not propose to the Bulgarian parliament to return conscription. This was explained to BNR by Atanas Zapryanov, Acting Minister of Defense. The minimum defense spending should rise to 2.5% of GDP.
“Russian aggression against Ukraine has generated a need for much greater capabilities and this has led to an increase in military spending in some countries. Poland reached 4.7% of GDP. Greece and Turkey have long spent over 2.5%, Romania too.
NATO is already talking about 2% as a minimum. The recommendation is to make a decision very soon on the increase in defense spending – not less than 2.5%”.
“Parliament itself made a change in the pay of the military personnel from the first of January next year. The political expectation is that with the salary increase we will increase interest in the armed forces and fill our vacant positions in the next few years”.
But if this does not happen, the issue of the return of conscription may be on the agenda, the minister explained.
“So far, the war in Ukraine has shown that the professional armed forces dominate.
The issue of conscription does not stand, even the countries that return it do so in a different form – in some countries it is on a voluntary basis, in others it is only for initial military training”.
Atanas Zapryanov comments on the military aid that our country sends to Ukraine.
“In our armed forces, all weapons and equipment, including self-propelled howitzers, are available. We have wartime formations that, if we need to mobilize them, and we have such artillery available for them. We also have surplus artillery, which is also maintained. our staffing is not disturbed in any way”.
The minister pointed out that the tension in political life in our country does not affect him or the department he leads.
“The armed forces are depoliticized. Things are developing normally for us, but as a citizen I can say that it would be good for Bulgaria to have a politically elected government with a long-term horizon. This is also good for the defense.”
He believes that rearmament of the Bulgarian army does not happen in slow steps.
“The introduction of new technologies, above all the unmanned systems in this war that Russia is waging against Ukraine, has led to a change in the views on the conduct of combat operations, but the classic combat systems are not falling away at all. Our defense strategy, like NATO’s, emphasizes a complex use of the armed forces.
Bulgaria buys really the best for the funds it wants to spend. I, as a minister, trust the military expertise”.
The army has a vision of arming itself with modern means of warfare, noted Zapryanov.
“Drones are foreseen in the rearmament program. We want to move to a new artillery system in the ground forces”.
States join military-political organizations to build up armed forces and within the framework of collective defense. In this way, military capabilities become affordable for the budget, he added.