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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. 

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