The Bulgarian Government Wednesday approved the 2016 Annual Report on the Status of Defence and the Armed Forces and will submit it to Parliament for debate and approval, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Stefan Yanev аnnounced.

"The draft informs the public and the future National Assembly of the status of defence and the armed forces and on the urgent tasks that we are handling until the end of 2017," Yanev said.

"The Bulgarian Armed Forces are already only partly capable of fulfilling their tasks under the missions arising from the constitutional duties to guarantee the country's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity within the framework of NATO collective defence," the Deputy PM pointed out.

One of the main reasons for this is underfinancing, as a result of which the armed forces are between 25 and 30% undermanned.

The Defence Ministry, jointly with other central government departments, is drafting a National Plan under which defence spending is to reach 2% of GDP by 2022, Yanev said.