site.btaBulgaria and Germany Deepen Defence Cooperation at Sofia Forum

The German-Bulgarian Defence Day forum was held in Sofia on Tuesday.

Organized by the German-Bulgarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (AHK Bulgarien) and the German Embassy in Sofia, the event aimed to foster business contacts and strengthen existing trade and partnership ties with Bulgarian companies in the defence sector.

During the forum, German security and defence companies presented their products and technologies, aiming to foster cooperation and expand their presence on the Bulgarian market.

Speaking at the opening of the event, President Rumen Radev described Germany as Bulgaria’s most strategic partner within NATO and the European Union. “For decades, we have enjoyed excellent bilateral relations in all areas of mutual interest—politics, economy, trade, culture, education, and tourism. Germany is not only a leading investor in Bulgaria, but also our number one trading partner,” Radev said.

Radev emphasized the importance of investing in defence in light of expanding conflicts and growing threats to Europe. “Conflicts are expanding around us. Russia’s war in Ukraine is escalating. The only way to ensure peace is by developing defensive and deterrent capabilities to counter any threat. However, to achieve this level of security, we need to do a lot,” Radev said.

Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov said that Bulgaria has set a target to raise defence spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2032. “To ensure the success of our investment projects in the field of defence, our spending reached the 2% of GDP target in 2024. However, this is no longer sufficient, and we have decided to increase our defence spending to at least 2.5–3%, with a goal of reaching 3.5% of GDP by 2032 as a minimum level to succeed in our modernization efforts,” he said.

Zapryanov stressed that Russia remains the most serious and direct threat to Euro-Atlantic security and that the Black Sea region and Southeastern Europe are of particular concern. Bulgaria is focused on strengthening its national defence within NATO and the EU’s collective security frameworks, he added.

National Assembly Defence Committee Chair Hristo Gadzhev (GERB-UDF) noted that past unsustainable budget decisions limit the pace of defence spending increases. “The bill which needs to be paid for random budgetary decisions of the past prevents defence spending from growing rapidly, because, after all, the idea is not to raise the debt level,” he said.

“Bulgaria’s ambition is to quickly increase its defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, but we should reckon with the financial legacy which the government inherited at the beginning of this year. We should wait to see the final document of the NATO Summit in The Hague [June 24-25], which will discuss defence spending,” Gadzhev emphasized.

He also confirmed that negotiations between the Bulgarian government and German defence contractor Rheinmetall are at an advanced stage.