site.btaNovember 25, 2007: Last Conscripts Sent Off in Solemn Ritual

The last conscripts from the Sofia garrison were sent off with a solemn ritual in front of the Monument of the Unknown Soldier in Sofia on November 25, 2007, according to information from BTA's referrence department. Military conscription in Bulgaria was mandatory for all fit male citizens between 1881 and 1919 and between 1938 until December 31, 2007. 

The last conscripts were born in 1988. On the same day, send-off rituals for the last conscripts were organized in several other cities in the country. In the months before the last conscript was to serve, there were cases of both boys wanting to do their duty despite being eligible for discharge and hard-to-recruit conscripts feigning health problems in order to avoid conscription.