site.btaReport to Parliament Shows Serious Underfunding for Armed Forces

Report to Parliament Shows Serious Underfunding for  Armed Forces

Sofia, May 21 (BTA) - Detailed comparative statistics shows that
 defence spending in terms of GDP share in the recent years put
Bulgaria close to the bottom of the list of EU member states.
This transpires from a report on the condition of the armed
forces and defence in  Bulgaria in 2014, which was submitted to
Parliament by the government on Thrursday.

The report was adopted by the legislature on 90-8 votes.

Defence spending stands at 117 leva, or some 69 euro, per capita
 in absolute terms which is five or even more times less than
the average figure for the Alliance members and ten times less
than Greece' figure, the report shows.

Im 2014, the budget for modernization of the armed forces was
1.38 per cent of the total defence budget. According to the
three-year financial framework, in 2017 this share will be
reduced to 1.12 per cent - which the Defence Ministry says is
inadmissible.

The report says that last year the Bulgarian Armed Forces
participated in 12 peacekeeping operations abroad with 1,043
officers, sergeants, privates and civilians. It was engaged in
167 operations for rescue and evacuation during natural
disasters, fires, defusing ammunitions, clear-ups and medical
evacuations. These operations involved 1,771 service persons and
 443 units of military equipment. The Armed Forces also provided
 considerable support to the government in dealing with the
increased migration pressure.

The debate on the report focused on the underfunding of the
army, the outdated equipment and the pressing need of a
long-term programme for development of the armed forces.
 
Yanko Yankov of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) said
that the armed forces are understaffed by 3,000 people. He
expects that his party will be against the contemplated raising
the retirement age in the defence sector.

He argued that the underfunding is not the only cause of the
problems in this sector: another is the lack of a political
consensus for over 10 years now about the priorities, the
modernization, the social status and motivation of
servicepersons, etc.

Yankov suggested that the double control on the military
industrial complex - with the Defence and the Economy Ministry
sharing the control powers - should be reconsidered.

The Bulgarian Socialist Party urged the Defence Ministry to make
 an effort to clarify what should be the areas of specialization
 of the Bulgarian Armed Forces within NATO. It could be
cyber-defence, intelligence or the special forces, they
suggested.

The Patriotic Front recalled their idea for reintroducing
mandatory military training in high schools.

Valentin Radev of GERB said that the government has spent a lot
on defence since 2000: from 2.89 per cent of GDP in 2000 to 1.35
 per cent in 2014. "The big issue is the efficiency of the
system: over 2 billion leva has been invested in defence during
this period but this has not resulted in an armed forces with
the capabilities we want to see," he said.

Peter Slavov of the Reformist Bloc, as well as other speakers
during the debate, undescored the outdated armament, mostly
acquired in the 1980s. Slavov suggested that alternative
financing be considered, including EU funding for auxiliary
programmes, which would leave the armed forces more resources
for defence. He mentioned as an example the Military Medical
Academy, which could use EU funding.

Ilian Todorov of Ataka asked why the armed forces of Poland,
Slovenia and Slovakia, all of which are NATO member states, are
not scrapping their Russian-made armament.