How many Times were Diplomatic Relations between Russia and Bulgaria Severed
If we look at history, there are not many cases in which relations between Bulgaria and Russia at the state level were as bad as they are at the moment.
Bulgaria's Armee Grande
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Photo by Nadya Kotseva (Sofia Photo Agency)
It was recently decided that Bulgaria's army was to be reduced by 5,000 soldiers. Those who came up with the decision were right - our army is so negligible that several thousand more or less don't really matter...
In December 2007 Bulgaria did away with the draft remaining with some 30-40 000 soldiers. Its army hardly has any equipment and machines worthy of the name - any planes or tanks fit for operations are antiquated Warsaw Pact leftovers.
Military bases have been closed down; land, buildings, apartments owned by the army have been traded in underhand dealings; armed vehicles have been literally disassembled and sold for scrap by gangs of unemployed Roma.
The picture is not grim, however. All Bulgarian politicians relevant to the army reforms send the same message: Bulgaria's army just doesn't matter. We can't afford it. We don't need it. All we need is several hundred rangers to send to missions abroad (at US request).
This week Bulgarian parliament voted to keep the 180 Bulgarian troops in Iraq by the end of 2008. The parliament will vote again to keep them by the end of 2009, 2010, etc, as long as the US asks us to. Apart from UN missions that we participate in, during the two Bush administrations Bulgaria became an ever present member of the "coalitions of the willing" in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Bulgaria's national defense strategy is quite simple. We rely on the US, or the US-led world order (with NATO, EU, and UN occasionally part of the picture), for our existence. In exchange we send troops to wherever they ask us to - Kabul, Kerbala, the Korean Peninsula...
It is rather doubtful that our troops are of any military value to the US. Not because our guys are not brave. Bulgaria's participation has just served mainly to provide larger international legitimacy for the Bush administration's actions.
Now, however, with Kosovo's imminent independence bound to create further turmoil in the Balkans, and with islamization knocking on secular Turkey's door, the issue of Bulgaria's national security and its inadequate means of defense comes to the fore again.
Let's assume the worst-case scenario. Kosovo becomes the core of some rogue state of Great Albania to the west. Turkey to the east with the third strongest army in NATO succumbs to radical Islamism putting Bulgaria between hammer and anvil. Meanwhile, the US retreats into isolation after the end of the Bush Era, the EU does not manage to get itself together on its common defense, and the collective security mechanism of the UN malfunctions. In such a situation with its present army Bulgaria is doomed. Are we gonna go back to Mother Russia again to ask for help??!?
However unlikely such doomsday scenarios might be, it is clear that even at the beginning of 21st century the Balkans are not the place for a country with literally no means of defense whatsoever.
Bulgaria's security can simply be guaranteed by acquiring the self-defense means to inflict unacceptable damage on potential invaders, namely: short-ranged missiles and high-tech aviation, adequate coastal defense forces, and highly efficient land defenses. As of now, we can hardly be further from any of these.
The one thing the reformers of Bulgaria's armed forces have right is that having a large number of soldiers does not guarantee the national security. But one should still have a reasonable number of them.
In its present size and condition the Bulgarian army cannot even guarantee the internal order in the country. It could even potentially be overwhelmed by a private mafia army of former sportsmen of the type Bulgaria saw in the early 1990s. And the Bulgarian military could hardly defend the nation's interests by threatening to keep in line any overly corrupt government in power.
The prospects for Bulgaria's national security are bleak indeed if it has to rely on its ridiculous army and even more ridiculous security doctrines. We could only dream of some responsible and prudent reformers who make it capable of defending the country from external and internal threats.
In December 2007 Bulgaria did away with the draft remaining with some 30-40 000 soldiers. Its army hardly has any equipment and machines worthy of the name - any planes or tanks fit for operations are antiquated Warsaw Pact leftovers.
Military bases have been closed down; land, buildings, apartments owned by the army have been traded in underhand dealings; armed vehicles have been literally disassembled and sold for scrap by gangs of unemployed Roma.
The picture is not grim, however. All Bulgarian politicians relevant to the army reforms send the same message: Bulgaria's army just doesn't matter. We can't afford it. We don't need it. All we need is several hundred rangers to send to missions abroad (at US request).
This week Bulgarian parliament voted to keep the 180 Bulgarian troops in Iraq by the end of 2008. The parliament will vote again to keep them by the end of 2009, 2010, etc, as long as the US asks us to. Apart from UN missions that we participate in, during the two Bush administrations Bulgaria became an ever present member of the "coalitions of the willing" in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Bulgaria's national defense strategy is quite simple. We rely on the US, or the US-led world order (with NATO, EU, and UN occasionally part of the picture), for our existence. In exchange we send troops to wherever they ask us to - Kabul, Kerbala, the Korean Peninsula...
It is rather doubtful that our troops are of any military value to the US. Not because our guys are not brave. Bulgaria's participation has just served mainly to provide larger international legitimacy for the Bush administration's actions.
Now, however, with Kosovo's imminent independence bound to create further turmoil in the Balkans, and with islamization knocking on secular Turkey's door, the issue of Bulgaria's national security and its inadequate means of defense comes to the fore again.
Let's assume the worst-case scenario. Kosovo becomes the core of some rogue state of Great Albania to the west. Turkey to the east with the third strongest army in NATO succumbs to radical Islamism putting Bulgaria between hammer and anvil. Meanwhile, the US retreats into isolation after the end of the Bush Era, the EU does not manage to get itself together on its common defense, and the collective security mechanism of the UN malfunctions. In such a situation with its present army Bulgaria is doomed. Are we gonna go back to Mother Russia again to ask for help??!?
However unlikely such doomsday scenarios might be, it is clear that even at the beginning of 21st century the Balkans are not the place for a country with literally no means of defense whatsoever.
Bulgaria's security can simply be guaranteed by acquiring the self-defense means to inflict unacceptable damage on potential invaders, namely: short-ranged missiles and high-tech aviation, adequate coastal defense forces, and highly efficient land defenses. As of now, we can hardly be further from any of these.
The one thing the reformers of Bulgaria's armed forces have right is that having a large number of soldiers does not guarantee the national security. But one should still have a reasonable number of them.
In its present size and condition the Bulgarian army cannot even guarantee the internal order in the country. It could even potentially be overwhelmed by a private mafia army of former sportsmen of the type Bulgaria saw in the early 1990s. And the Bulgarian military could hardly defend the nation's interests by threatening to keep in line any overly corrupt government in power.
The prospects for Bulgaria's national security are bleak indeed if it has to rely on its ridiculous army and even more ridiculous security doctrines. We could only dream of some responsible and prudent reformers who make it capable of defending the country from external and internal threats.
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