Bulgarian defense minister calls for raised budgets amid "real challenges"

Bulgarian Defense Minister Nikolay Nenchev here on Tuesday said he wanted more money to develop the rapid defense capabilities of the country's armed forces amid "real challenges" from the east and south.

"The challenges from the eastern and southern flank of NATO are real, not hypothetical, and we must be adequately prepared for them," Nenchev said while addressing an international conference.

For this purpose, his country should have means for protection in case of need, and to work for the accelerated construction and development of defense capabilities of its armed forces, Nenchev said.

Nenchev said he understood the difficult situation of state finances and the acute shortage in other sectors such as health, education and social activities.

"At the same time, we want more money for defense, led by concrete and clear needs, namely to stop the capabilities degradation process, and to make the Bulgarian army a highly respected member of NATO and a participant in the common security and defense policy of the European Union," Nenchev said.

"Let me say it clearly: the wanted increase in defense budget is not an end in itself. This is the only way to ensure our national security," he added.

At the beginning of May, Nenchev said Bulgaria was perhaps the only country in NATO that is almost 100 percent dependent on Russia for its military equipment.

Meanwhile, a program for the development of defense capabilities worth about 2.28 billion U.S. dollars has been submitted for approval to the government.

Despite programs such as National Program Bulgaria in NATO and European Defense 2020 being approved by the Bulgarian caretaker government last October, Nenchev said that the 2010-2014 budget of the Ministry of Defense was less than the "minimal necessary level" of 1.5 percent of GDP, and remained at a "dangerously low point." Endit