Bulgaria's DefMin Calls for Debate on Military Spending

A debate is needed on boosting Bulgaria's military expenditure in line with the country's NATO commitments, interim Defense Minister Stefan Yanev has said.

Yanev's remarks come against the backdrop of the Munich security conference, where NATO states were urged to increase defense spending to at least 2% of GDP, as agreed during a summit in 2014.

Calls to boost the expenditure have been made since ten years, Yanev has recalled.

US Defense Secretary James Mattis made it clear during the meeting that "American taxpayers do not agree to that extent to pay for the security of your children if you don't want to [do it]. That was the message," in he Bulgarian minister's words.
According to Yanev, the process is undeprinned by "simple and deep logic" as the Alliance doesn't look as obsolete now as it did in the 1990s.

He has also pointed to the long-standing issues about the state of the Bulgarian Armed Forces, marked by lack of personnel, low motivation and technological shortages.

Budgetary issues are among the few areas where interim governments (such as the current one) have no competences whatsoever - party because there is no Parliament to accept them.

Bulgaria currently spends less than 1.5% of its GDP on defense. NATO calls to slide the share upwards, to at least 2% by 2024, reiterated by the previous President, were given a snub by Boyko Borisov, the former Prime Minister.

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