site.btaPresident: Resource Shortage, Technological Backwardness, Slow Modernization, Lack of Personnel, Complex Defence Capability Planning Plague Bulgarian Armed Forces

Resource shortages, technological backwardness, delayed modernization, lack of personnel, overly complex defence capability planning procedures and even more cumbersome acquisition procedures are the plaguing the Bulgarian Armed Forces, President Rumen Radev said Tuesday as he addressed the first day of the annual conference of Bulgarian Chief of Defence.

"Unfortunately, many of the problems that we discussed and that faced the Bulgarian Armed Forces in the previous period, still remain," the head of state noted.

He said that a war has been raging near Bulgaria for two years now, which has dramatically changed the security environment.

According to him, the efforts of the civilian and military leadership of the Ministry of Defence to ensure the minimum of capabilities in this complex environment, are not enough. In his words, "it is important to understand that national security is a very complex matter and the Defence Ministry is not the only institution responsible for it".