site.btaVazrazhdane Slams PM for 5% Defence Spending Commitment

Vazrazhdane Friday slammed Prime Minister Rumen Radev for supporting an increase in Bulgaria's defence spending to 5% following his meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Ruttel. Speaking to reporters in Sofia, the party's leader Kostadin Kostadinov argued that the country faced pressing domestic financial challenges which need to be addressed instead.

During a meeting with Rutte on Thursday, Radev noted that Bulgaria has achieved the target of defence investments equal to 2% of GDP and is consistently moving toward increasing them to 5%.

Kostadinov claimed that the public purse lacks the funds to pay the pensions of more than 2 million pensioners.

He also expects that Bulgaria's policy towards Ukraine would remain unchanged "despite expectations that the country might alter its position".

Kostadinov said Vazrazhdane had repeatedly argued that Bulgaria needed to end what it sees as a distortion of national policy, claiming that public alienation from state institutions stems from repeated unfulfilled promises.