site.btaNational Assembly to Reconsider Defence Act Amendments after Presidential Veto

The National Assembly is scheduled to reconsider amendments to the Defence and Armed Forces Act, parts of which were vetoed by President Rumen Radev, according to the draft programme published on the legislature’s website on Wednesday.

The amendments, adopted on October 30, raise the maximum age for military service by two years for personnel who have not exercised their right to a pension. This applies to all ranks, from soldiers 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. Of these, about 159 are officers, 510 are soldiers, 24 are officer cadets, and 154 are sergeants, Zapryanov noted.

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.

The National Assembly's draft agenda includes a first reading of amendments to the Act on Access and Disclosure of Documents and on Announcing Affiliation of Bulgarian Citizens to State Security and the Intelligence Services of the Bulgarian People’s Army. The proposed changes are sponsored by Snezhanka Trayanska of There Is Such a People (TISP) and members of the governing coalition.

Under the current provision, a verbatim transcript is required for each meeting of the Dossier Commission. The sponsors propose replacing the transcript with an audio recording due to a shortage of stenographers, making it impossible to meet the commission’s needs. The proposal does not change the process for certifying meeting content, as audio recordings are already maintained alongside transcripts under the commission’s existing rules.