The draft budget in the context of the Ministry of Defense provides for 2.36% for defense, which would be another increase in the share of money in relation to GDP. According to the former Minister of Defense Angel Naydenov, the increase in money for salaries and their binding to the average salary for the country solves the problem of understaffing (ed. note: Insufficient employees compared to the announced staff) in the Bulgarian army. In the program “Denyat na Zievo” on NOVA NEWS, he emphasized that there is currently an increase in candidates, reaching up to three people for one position. The overall shortage of personnel in our army has reached 20%.
Regarding the budget, Naydenov recalled that last year the target of 2% of GDP was reached, and for this year the figure is 2.09%. For next year, defense spending is planned to be 2.36% of the Gross Domestic Product. The former Defense Minister emphasized that the target of 3.5% is spread over a period of 10 years.
According to Angel Naydenov, at the moment there is not only a technical lag in the Bulgarian Army, even within the Balkans, but there is also a technological gap. He added that Bulgaria received the requested derogation for military spending back in April and the budget deficit rules will not apply to them.
Regarding the hot international topic – Regarding a possible meeting between Trump and Putin in Budapest, the former defense minister expressed skepticism about its holding: “The clouds are thickening and are due to a series of statements by officials from Putin's administration about “solving the root causes of the war”, said Naydenov.