Bulgaria’s prime minister has reaffirmed his country’s commitment to spending 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defense, saying Europe needed to do more to boost its own defense capacity.
Prime Minister Rumen Radev did not specify when his country would achieve that target, but said on May 28 that the government was consistently making progress.
“We have reached the 2 percent threshold,” Bulgarian National Radio quoted Radev as telling NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in a meeting in Brussels. “We are determined to take the next step by gradually increasing our budget to 5 percent to meet our defense commitment.”
After the bilateral meeting, Rutte wrote in a post on X that Bulgaria is a “valued ally making important contributions to our shared security,” with the country having a key role on the alliance’s eastern flank, which includes the Black Sea….