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16 EU countries, including Bulgaria, will increase defense spending through higher budget deficit

Photo: BGNES

16 EU countries will ask to be allowed to temporarily not apply the rules on budgetary stability in order to be able to make defense spending. Bulgaria is among them, BTA reports. The European Commission presented a White Paper on the future of European defense, in which it proposes, as an exceptional measure, that member states use up to 1.5 percent of their GDP for 4 years on military spending, without fear of violating the budget rules that set a ceiling on deficits and government debts.

Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland have decided to request the activation of this clause, the 27 said in a communiqué.

At its last meeting, the Bulgarian government approved a decision to request the European Commission to activate the clause allowing for extraordinary defense financing for Bulgaria. This will allow the allocation of up to 3% of GDP for defense and rearmament of the Bulgarian army.



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