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

Bulgaria has the lowest defense spending compared to its neighbors

Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov
Photo: BTA

Bulgaria will continue to help Ukraine in line with the decision of the National Assembly, Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov told bTV. "We will continue to support Ukraine as we have done so far. What we have done is based on the decisions of the National Assembly of 2022 and 2023", Minister Zapryanov said further.

The shortage of soldiers has increased from 25% to 30%. The shortage of Land Forces officers is 34%, Atanas Zapryanov said. He emphasized that increasing military salaries will not burden the state budget, where 2.5% of the country's GDP is earmarked for defense. According to Minister Zaptryanov, Bulgaria spends the least on defense compared to its neighbors. In his words, Romania and Greece spend 3% of their GDP on defence, while Turkiye spends 4% of its GDP on defense. Even Serbia spends more, Minister Zapryanov said.




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

Showers are expected across much of Bulgaria over the weekend

On Saturday, minimum temperatures will range from 8 to 13°C , around 9°C in Sofia. It will be mostly cloudy with rain in many areas. There will be temporary breaks in cloud cover over southern regions. Overnight into Sunday, cloudiness will begin to..

published on 10/17/25 7:05 PM

Fourth air ambulance helicopter arrives in Bulgaria

Bulgaria has received its fourth air ambulance helicopter.  “The new aircraft will be based at the Georgi Benkovski Air Force Academy hangar in Dolna Mitropolia. From there, it will serve a wide regional area and make a significant contribution to the..

published on 10/17/25 4:24 PM

BNR will host 2025 Public Broadcasters International conference

The Bulgarian National Radio will host the 2025  Public Broadcasters International (PBI) Annual Conference . The prestigious forum will be held from 20 to 22 October for the first time in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. The theme of the PBI..

published on 10/17/25 3:34 PM