site.btaParliament Adopts Report on State of Defence and Armed Forces in Bulgaria in 2015

Parliament Adopts Report on State of Defence and Armed Forces in Bulgaria in 2015

Sofia, May 20 (BTA) - Parliament adopted Friday a report on the state of defence and armed forces in Bulgaria in 2015. The Defence Minister was absent from the debating chamber and the Socialists insisted that the debate wait until he shows up.

The report shows that the defence budget last year was 1,116,374,300 leva, or 1.3 per cent of the projected GDP. The bulk of it (93.4 per cent) was spent for combat capabilities.

The report says that Bulgarian military formations and individual service personnel participated in 14 overseas missions. A total of 420 service persons participated in planned rotations. 1,256 military personnel and 340 pieces of equipment were involved in 182 operations in support of national security at time of peace. The Armed Forces (Land Forces and Air Force personnel) assisted the Border Police in protecting the southern border which has been under increased migration pressure.
The report gives a realistic assessment of the results achieved in the efforts towards meeting the NATO force utilization standards. It says that only the Land Forces, despite the shortage of resources, have been able to meet the NATO requirements for participation in overseas operations and missions and to maintain units and capabilities in operations for prolonged periods of time.

Due to underfunding for new armament and equipment, the Air Force and the Navy were considerably behind in meeting these targets.
During the debate on the report, Atanas Zafirov MP (Bulgarian Socialist Party) asked the plenary to pay attention to one sentence in the report which is copy-pasted from previous reports: that despite the underfunding the Armed Forces successfully carry their duties. "We have set a dangerous practice of carrying out our tasks even without funding and equipment," he noted.

He also noted with concern the understaffing of military services: there are currently 3,000 vacancies.

He said that public procurement for the Armed Forces is also a problematic area and Defence Ministers are being questioned by prosecutors.

Independent MP Velizar Enchev said that the report shows the Air Force to be the weak link in the Bulgarian Armed Forces. "The Air Force has grounded even though the MiG-29 fleet has another 14 years of life," he said.

Peter Slavov (Reformist Bloc) said it is an objective report which shows how the problems can be addressed.