Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Defence Minister Zakov: 2% of GDP for defence is insufficient, we need a higher percentage

Defence Minister Dragomir Zakov.
Photo: BGNES

The second batch of eight F-16 fighter jets could be delivered by 2027. This was said by Defence Minister Dragomir Zakov to the Defence Committee in Parliament. "We are still in talks with the American side. We have not yet reached the stage of negotiating a price offer. I expect that to happen sometime in June," he added.
The cost of the equipment that Bulgaria would have to buy is between 3 and 6.6 billion euros, Zakov said. 
2% of GDP would not be sufficient to cover the needs, so we should re-consider a higher percentage for defence, he said.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Light precipitation is expected in the southern regions of the country

During the night, the sky will be mostly clear over most of the country. There will be more significant cloudiness over the southern regions and in some places light precipitation is possible. On Friday, it will be mostly..

published on 8/14/25 7:10 PM

Bulgarian services dismantle Spain-to-Turkey drug trafficking ring

An organised criminal group trafficking drugs from Spain and the Netherlands to Turkey has been dismantled by the State Agency for National Security (DANS) and the General Directorate for Combating Organised Crime (GDBOP). The leader of the group and..

published on 8/14/25 5:29 PM

Six European countries help Bulgaria fight fires

Last week, Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Albania activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to help them deal with forest fires, many of which are occurring simultaneously across Europe, the European Commission announced...

published on 8/14/25 4:50 PM