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The Bulgarian army will gradually make up for its personnel shortage

published on 10/23/25 11:32 AM

Photo: BTA

The Bulgaria army will make up for the lack of personnel but not immediately. For 2025, we have money to hire only 1,000 new soldiers, said Defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov before the relevant parliamentary committee.

The committee supported the changes to the Defense and Armed Forces Act on second reading, which increases the maximum age for service of the military personnel by two years. This will allow us to retain 159 officers, 174 non-commissioned officers and about 510 private soldiers for another 2 years, Zapryanov said.

Meanwhile, the defense ministry announced that the tactical exercise “Steel Shield 25” has begun at the Koren training ground. In the three phases of the maneuvers, the 61st Tank Battalion will be certified according to NATO standards. The 31st Mechanized Battalion also participates in the exercise.

Edited by Ivo Ivanov
English publication: R. Petkova

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