site.btaUPDATED Military Profession's Competitiveness Halves in 10 Years - Defence Minister

The Bulgarian military cannot address the understaffing issue successfully unless the profession is made more appealing to the public and more competitive on the labour market, caretaker Minister of Defence Atanas Zapryanov told journalists on Wednesday. "The competitiveness of the military profession has halved over the last 10 years," he said after the National Assembly Committee on Defence okayed the Report on the State of Defence and the Armed Forces in 2023 at a meeting earlier in the day.

Zapryanov took over as Defence Minister on Tuesday, when the caretaker government of Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev was sworn in. He is three-time deputy defence minister and former head of the Rakovski National Defence College in Sofia.

He said it is disturbing that the personnel shortfall in the Armed Forces is aggravating. The official percentage is 21.8%, but it does not reveal the whole picture because it is an average value. It is higher in some agencies, much higher in the National Guard. He warned that some forces may lose their combat fitness unless measures are taken. "The MPs expressed their willingness to help," Zapryanov added.

At its closed-door meeting, the Defence Committee gave the green light to a draft resolution defining Bulgaria's wartime forces, including supplementary structures, and setting the numerical strength of the Armed Forces Reserve. Zapryanov described the proposed resolution as "a very important document for our national defence".

He pointed to a need to streamline the forces which the National Assembly approved back in 2013.

The last two meetings of the Defence Committee made crucial decisions for the future of the Armed Forces, Zapryanov recalled. The previous meeting approved the Defence Investment Programme until 2032, which "allows us to accelerate all steps for upgrading the Armed Forces".

Chief of Defence Adm. Emil Eftimov also attended the meeting. He told the media: "The needs of the Armed Forces should be subject to public consensus."

The admiral stressed that the security environment has deteriorated radically in recent years, due to which the tasks of the military have increased significantly. He recalled the COVID pandemic and the migrant crisis, including the fact that the military had to send more than 400 servicepersons to help with border security.

"The burden is growing all the time," Eftimov said, noting that understaffing does not help. "We are trying to prevent it from affecting the performance of the military."

He urged: "Measures should be taken. I hate to see officers' resignations on my desk every week. The public should be aware that security is not for free. It requires an engagement from the whole nation, all age groups, who should be clear about the security problems and learn how they can make a positive contribution."

"The armed forces in their current state can guarantee sovereignty and territorial integrity thanks to the collective defence, within which our country is defended. Allied capabilities provide what we lack, and it is quite a lot," Zapryanov said. According to him, the biggest problem of the Armed Forces becomes the manning of peacetime formations, but also of wartime formations. 

"There are few countries in the world that can guarantee their sovereignty and territorial security on their own," Defence Chief Admiral Emil Eftimov said. "As long as the Bulgarian army exists, it will do everything possible to guarantee the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bulgaria. Whether we will do it with limitations, whether we will do it with difficulties depends on the current state, on the resources of the Bulgarian army," the admiral said.

The Defence Committee in Parliament endorsed the report on the state of defence and the Armed Forces of Bulgaria in 2023 at its meeting on Wednesday. Seven MPs voted in favour, two against and two abstained.

The report states that the under-staffing of the Armed Forces is over 20%, urgent legislative measures are needed for the reserve to create conditions for peacetime training of the reserve, and the level of defence spending of 2% of GDP is insufficient. The document also points to the need to initiate a public debate on the possibility of introducing forms of compulsory military training for citizens.