Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Civilians in Bulgaria can undergo military training

Photo: BGNES

The Strategic Defence Review will recommend a study on the possibility for civilians to receive military training, interim Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov said. 

The latest defence report recommends urgent legislative measures to create conditions for peacetime training of the military reserve. In the period 2010-2020, it decreased by 43% and the trend continues by 5-7% every year. If this rate continues, in 15 years' time Bulgaria's military reserve will be completely exhausted. 
Another problem highlighted in the report is progressive ageing. In 2020, reservists under the age of 35 accounted for only 5% of the total number of reservists, those under 45 years of age accounted for 46% and those over 45 - 49%. 

"We are not in a hurry to propose compulsory training of citizens to defend the Fatherland, as we need an analysis. This will come into the strategic review as a guideline to be further explored," the military minister summed up. 



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Bulgarian-African Chamber of Commerce to develop relations with the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Representatives of the Bulgarian-African Chamber of Commerce visited the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and met with its President Tsvetan Simeonov. Albena Jones, Dimitar Turlakov, and Anton Samsonov are among the founders of..

published on 2/19/25 9:08 AM
Photo: Jérémie Bergeron/Radio-Canada

Ministry of Foreign Affairs cautions Bulgarians on severe weather in Canada

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends that Bulgarian citizens traveling or residing in Canada keep themelselves well-informed about the current weather conditions, and regularly check the status of their flights. The Canadian Meteorological..

published on 2/19/25 8:55 AM

Ministry of Finance releases 2025 draft budget

The Ministry of Finance published the 2025 draft budget and the medium-term budget forecast for the 2025-2028 period. The projected deficit for 2025 is up to 6.4 billion BGN (EUR 3.3 billion), which is 3% of GDP.  Expenditures will not exceed 40% of..

published on 2/19/25 8:42 AM