Defense Head: Tough Battles Ahead for Bulgaria's Land Forces

Bulgarian Defense Minister Angelov (left) greets the head of the land forces Gen. Stefan Vasilev for the holiday of the infantry. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's land forces are still to face tough days in the years to come because of the ongoing reforms, Defense Minister Anyu Angelov declared in an address for the Day of the Land Forces.

Gen. Angelov attended a special concert dedicated to the professional holiday of the Bulgarian land forces saying the infantry will always be the backbone of the Bulgarian armed forces.

He said that in 2014, a deadline for completion of painful reforms, the infantry units will be 53% of the total forces of Bulgaria – which, in his words, is a "substantial share".

"We are all tired of the reforms," Angelov stated with respect to the two decades of often questionable adjustments in the structure and modernization of the Bulgarian military which started after the Cold War and the breakup of the Warsaw Pact.

He reminded that the Defense Ministry is working on the Review of the Structure of the Military Forces and their Development Plan underscoring that it opened for bottom-up suggestions from the regular officers, and vowed readiness to identify sources of potential discontent and to rectify their causes.

The head of the Bulgarian land forces, Major Gen. Stefan Vasilev pointed out the performance of Bulgarian infantry units, about 600 at present, serving in Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of international missions.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!