The government has approved a new National Defence Strategy to prepare the army for modern challenges and implement new NATO requirements. The document states that the country’s defence “is carried out in the context of NATO’s collective defence and within the framework of the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy.”

The section describing the security environment reads: “The main threat to Bulgaria and the region is Russia. Military aggression in Ukraine will continue to have a strong destabilizing influence not only in the region but also in the world. The tendency to increase the confrontation between the leading powers will increase the danger of using armed forces to achieve strategic goals in international relations.” The authors of the strategy emphasize that the danger of global military and nuclear escalation is increasing.