National Defence College in Sofia Celebrates 113th Anniversary

Rakovski National Defence College, Sofia, April 14, 2025 (BTA Photo/Nikola Uzunov)

Sofia,

14.04.2025 18:19

(BTA)

The Rakovski National Defence College Monday held an event to mark its Patron's Day and the 113th anniversary of its establishment.

It was set up by law on 1 March 1912, adopted by the 15th National Assembly, and is the oldest higher military school in Bulgaria.

April 14, 2025 also marks the 204th anniversary of the birth of the College’s patron Georgi Rakovski, a revolutionary and organizer of the national liberation movement. The College was named after him on March 5, 1946.

The Defence College currently has more than 1,200 students, said Commandant Major General Stayko Prokopiev . Of them, 70 study warfare, 1,004 national security, 126 psychology, and 42 are PhD students. For years, the College has held a leading position in the annual rankings of the rating system for higher education institutions. In 2024, the College was ranked second in the field of psychology after Sofia University, he said.

Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov said in his remarks on the occasion that the officers trained by the national military education system prove to be fully equal to their partners in international positions at NATO headquarters and during the Bulgarian Army in international operations and missions of the UN, NATO and the EU. We must maintain this level and build on it in the direction of military education being closely linked to modern realities, practices and needs, the Minister commented.

Wars in the 21st century provide a serious impetus for the use of modern technologies, which necessitates rethinking our training, updating the curriculum, improving working and training conditions, adequate remuneration, but also increasing the requirements for personnel, Zapryanov also said.

Addressing the event, Bulgaria’s Deputy Chief of Defence, Lieutenant General Mihail Popov, said that a new phase in the modernization of the Bulgarian Armed Forces is beginning. “In addition to the new equipment and weaponry that are already being introduced, there is a need for leaders and commanders with an innovative approach,“ Lieutenant General Popov said.

/NF/