"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 Sofia Appellate Court left in custody Varna Mayor Blagomir Kotsev, who is charged with corruption and participation in an organized crime group. The judgment is final. One of the three judges, Andrey Angelov, signed with a dissenting..
Bulgaria’s Minister of Justice Georgi Georgiev conferred in Brussels with the European Commission team responsible for the Resilience and Recovery Plan (RRP) reforms in Bulgaria, reported the Ministry of Justice. EC: RRP payment depends on..
''Only two bridges connect Bulgaria and Romania along our 475-kilometer shared river border – this is a transport shortfall and a new 'Iron Curtain' within the European Union'', said Bulgaria’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Transport and..
Bulgaria, Greece and Romania have finalized a memorandum for joint cooperation on new transport projects, said European Commissioner for..
Suspicions of large-scale fraud with EU funds in a project to build a mussel farm in the Black Sea – southeast of Cape Emine in the..
On Tuesday , the lowest temperatures will be between 2 and 7°C. In the valleys and high fields the temperature can drop to minus 2°C;..
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