Conscription in the Bulgarian armed forces was fully suspended from 1 January 2008 when the parliament of the country passed a bill of amendments to the Law on Defense and Armed Forces. From this day the army service became fully professional. That day also triggered an ongoing debate about the state of the Bulgarian army and the problems of persistent military staff shortage.

The President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Rumen Radev has summed up the pending issues in the Bulgarian army as follows: a lack of up-to-date technology, arms and equipment, a lack of financing to support adequate combat training, low social status of the military and the exodus of staff. “I am going to press for timely development of a ‘2030’ program for improvement of the defense capabilities of the armed forces and for updating the National Plan for increasing defense spending to 2% from the Gross Domestic Product until 2024”, the head of state said on Wednesday as he reported on his first year in office.

Insufficient financing of the army in the recent years has resulted in a shortage of military staff at 25 to 30 percent of the personnel needed for defense and the armed forces. The starting monthly salary of 325-350 euro for a professional recruit has failed to tempt young Bulgarians.

The government has taken this case seriously and the Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Krasimir Karakachanov has come up with a proposal to introduce voluntary military service for young people in Bulgaria. He is adamant that he has not given up his plans for the reintroduction of conscription and sees voluntary recruitment as the first step in this direction. In figures quoted by Karakachanov job vacancies in defense are 5500, and 15 million euro has been allocated to solving the problems of staff. The defense minister suggests using the Swiss system. Under it there is a brief military training course for everybody in the course of six months. After that trainees enter the reserve and their knowledge and skills are refreshed periodically. The system also includes increasing the number of military training classes in schools. Says Minister Krasimir Karakachanov:

“These five school classes in military training cover a little theory and history alone and are far from enough to create a notion about military service with young people; what it is about; what they should know in case of military conflicts, how they should use firearms and render first aid, etc. According to me military training school classes should increase in number and accentuate the practical aspects. Military training is important in promoting patriotism in the young. From the new school year we will introduce a pilot project especially in towns and cities with military schools or large garrisons with trained military officers who could take up the role of teachers.”

In an interview for Radio Bulgaria Minister Karakachanov commented his idea about voluntary military service:

“In terms of army recruitment there is an ongoing debate in Bulgarian society. At this stage it is more realistic to propose something which is present in the government program of the coalition of Gerb and the United Patriots, notably, voluntary recruitment. All Bulgarian citizens who have turned 18 and who are willing are welcome to receive military training for six to nine months and after that return to their routine occupations.”

All countries where conscription has been suspended and there is only a professional army are faced with problems recruiting staff, Krasimir Karakachanov contends. This problem will remain unsolved unless conscription is resumed. There are many countries including our neighbors in the Balkans Greece and Turkey where conscription is operational. There are other countries in Europe such as Austria, where conscription is a fact, and Sweden and Finland resumed conscription last year, a process which according to Bulgarian Defense Minister Krasimir Karakachanov is irreversible.

English Daniela Konstantinova