Part of the Defense Ministry funding will be used to recruit 250 people for the Bulgarian Armed Forces as the latter is grappling with a large number of vacancies. File photo, BGNES
The ministries of defense and interior will be allocated a total of BGN 2 B for next year, Bulgarian MPs have decided.
Part of the Defense Ministry's funding (BGN 1.08 B) will be earmarked to fill a small number of vacancies in the military, with 250 openings to be offered even though the armed forces need more than 5500 people as of the moment.
The Interior Ministry will have projected revenues of BGN 0.170 M and expenditure of BGN 1.233 B.
Lawmakers turned down two proposals to increase the budgets of the military intelligence agency and the Technical Operations state agency, which is in charge of producing special surveillance devices. The proponent, Metodi Andreev, had argued Bulgaria needed to modernize its security sector, but also to build upon its intelligence potential in the Middle East where, he said, it had "reliable sources".