"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."
Caretaker Premier Dimitar Glavchev said from Washington that he did not know why the president had not yet announced a date for handing over the second exploratory mandate to form a government. "Surely, President Rumen Radev has some considerations..
13 bands from abroad will perform on the big stage of the 4 th edition of Midalidare - Rock in the Wine Valley , 12-14 July, alongside the headliners Deep Purple, Mr. Big and Accept, among them Axel Rudi Pell, Hammerfall, Beast in Black, The..
On Friday the weather will be sunny and hot. Clouds will form in the afternoon but there will only be isolated showers in some parts in Eastern Bulgaria. Minimum temperatures 20-24° C., for Sofia 20° C., maximum 34-39° C., for Sofia 34° C...
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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