"The Bulgarian army is currently 5,600 soldiers short. One of the reasons is the low starting salary of 608 Leva a month," said Defence Minister Krasimir Karakachanov. In his words the most serious problem is that around 30-40 percent of the people applying for professional soldiers are unfit for reasons of health or education.
He added that before a conscription army can be reinstated, for which he says he will be supported by GERB party, the number of military education classes at school must be increased and voluntary service introduced.
Karakachanov says further that the EU is not ready to set up a single defence structure, an idea Bulgaria supports:
"Bulgaria is in favour of the formation of such a defence structure but that is a process. Seeing as we have NATO, this compatibility must be looked into, how a European defence will fit into the picture. There are European countries which are not members of NATO. There are European countries which are more skeptical, others are more enthusiastic like France and Germany."
The start of the major repair of the Danube Bridge near Ruse is the reason for a serious conversation about the connectivity between Bulgaria and Romania. Along the 409 km long border, there are just two bridges and 5 ferries, some of..
Vazrazhdane and There Is Such a People (ITN) are to submit, to the National Assembly, a draft decision for the holding of a referendum on preserving the Bulgarian Lev, said Vazrazhdane MP Tsoncho Ganev. This is an initiative which the previous..
Answering a question in parliament, caretaker Minister of Culture Maestro Nayden Todorov stated that the National Culture Fund has a staff of only 11, people who have to distribute millions of euro for culture under the Recovery and Resilience Plan...
The largest archaeological campaign ever conducted on Perperikon has begun, BTA reports. Prof. Nikolay Ovcharov, head of the research at..
After 17 MPs from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, MRF, were expelled, among them the party’s other co-chair Dzevdet Chakarov, MRF MP Ahmed..
Greece’s Minister of Defence Nikos Dendias announced that Greece, Bulgaria and Romania are to establish a military mobility corridor in NATO’s Eastern..
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