Bulgaria’s government adopts national plan for gradual increase in defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035
Bulgaria’s Cabinet approved on June 10 a National Plan to increase defence spending to five per cent of GDP by 2035, a statement by the government information service said.
The plan is in implementation of the commitment made at the Nato Summit in The Hague in 2025 to gradually increase defence spending to five per cent of GDP by 2035, of which no less than 3.5 per cent of GDP for core defence spending and up to 1.5 per cent of GDP for defence and security-related investments, the statement said.
It said that the increased funding for basic defence expenditures is necessary for building defence capabilities, rearmament and modernisation of the Bulgarian military, which will contribute to strengthening the deterrent and defence potential in response to the increased geostrategic threats.
In this regard, the plan envisages the use of the opportunities offered by the instruments of the European Union.
Defence and security-related investments relate to activities such as resilience and civil protection, cyber defence, innovation, infrastructure, defence industrial capacity, military mobility, among others, the statement said.
They are planned in the budgets of various national institutions, but for the first time they will be reported in an aggregated manner.
“The planned financial resources, combined with the initiatives of the European Union, will contribute to the expansion of industrial capacity, the transfer of new technologies and the creation of new jobs,” the statement said.
(Archive photo: Ministry of Defence)
