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

Civilians in Bulgaria can undergo military training

Photo: BGNES

The Strategic Defence Review will recommend a study on the possibility for civilians to receive military training, interim Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov said. 

The latest defence report recommends urgent legislative measures to create conditions for peacetime training of the military reserve. In the period 2010-2020, it decreased by 43% and the trend continues by 5-7% every year. If this rate continues, in 15 years' time Bulgaria's military reserve will be completely exhausted. 
Another problem highlighted in the report is progressive ageing. In 2020, reservists under the age of 35 accounted for only 5% of the total number of reservists, those under 45 years of age accounted for 46% and those over 45 - 49%. 

"We are not in a hurry to propose compulsory training of citizens to defend the Fatherland, as we need an analysis. This will come into the strategic review as a guideline to be further explored," the military minister summed up. 



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

President Rumen Radev meets with the Bulgarian community in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Protecting the rights and caring for Bulgarian communities abroad are fundamental to Bulgarian foreign policy, said Bulgarian President Rumen Radev at a meeting with the Bulgarian community in Riyadh . He answered the questions of Bulgarians working and..

published on 10/28/25 10:41 AM

Strong earthquake in western Turkey felt in southern Bulgaria

An earthquake with a 6.1 magnitude on the Richter scale hit Western Turkey at 22.48 hours last night. There were over 40 aftershocks after the earthquake. The epicenter was near the city of Sundargah in the Balıkesir province. In addition to..

published on 10/28/25 9:42 AM

Bulgarians are putting money into banks en masse before expected euro adoption

The Bulgarian National Bank reports a sharp increase in new household deposits . The growth in euro deposits is impressive. In just one month, amounts worth 334 million leva (over 161 million euros) were placed in deposit accounts. This is 57% more than..

published on 10/28/25 9:12 AM