site.btaParliament Rejects President’s Veto on Amendments to the Defence and Armed Forces Act, Raising Service Age Limit

On Wednesday, Parliament rejected President Rumen Radev’s veto on amendments to the Defence and Armed Forces Act with 128 votes in favour, 50 against and 16 abstentions.

The amendments provide for increasing by two years the maximum age for service for military personnel who have not exercised their right to a pension. The higher age limit applies to all categories of service members – from rank-and- file personnel to the Chief of Defence.

Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov said at the time that the measure would allow the armed forces to retain around 847 service members over the next two years, helping to address personnel shortages.

In his reasoning, Radev points to the need to improve the regulation of the maximum age for military service, to encourage the development of academic staff, and to clarify the rules for allocating, recording, and compensating working time, as well as the use and postponement of leave. However, he notes that these changes should not disadvantage service members.

On October 30, Parliament adopted at second reading the amendments to the Defence and Armed Forces Act, after which the Head of State returned some of the provisions for further debate. In his motives, the President notes the need to improve the regulation regarding the maximum age for military service, to encourage the development of academic staff, and to refine the rules for allocating, recording, and compensating service time, as well as the use and postponement of leave. However, he emphasizes that this should not be done in a way that disadvantages the military personnel.