Bulgaria allocated a remarkable 2 billion euros for defense in 2024, but despite this, it ranked 19th in the European Union. This raises the question of the actual state of Bulgarian military spending against the backdrop of global challenges.
The European Union in Numbers
The total defense spending of the European Union in the past year amounted to 343.2 billion euros. This amount is almost twice as large as the investments in 2020, when 198 billion euros were spent. The main reason for this growth is the ongoing war in Ukraine, which began in February 2022, which questioned stability in the region.
The trend of increasing military budgets will continue. This is due not only to the war, but also to the changed geopolitical situation. The weakening support from the US to its European allies in NATO plays a key role in this.
Leaders in Europe
Germany leads the ranking with 90.6 billion euros, followed by France with 59.6 billion euros. The two countries account for almost half of the total defense spending within the Union – 44%. Italy takes third place with 32.7 billion euros, and Poland is establishing itself as an important factor with 31.9 billion euros, surpassing Spain with its military budget of 22.7 billion euros.
Neighbors and the Balkans
Romania leads in Southeast Europe in terms of military spending, occupying 10th place in the EU with 7.9 billion euros. Our northern neighbor invests heavily in military infrastructure, especially in the Black Sea and the port of Constanta. Greece is in 12th place with 6.5 billion euros. Athens maintains a high level of military equipment and training, due to long-term investments in view of the complex relations with Turkey.
Croatia and Slovenia remain behind Bulgaria with 1.6 and 0.9 billion euros.
Expenditure per capita
Bulgaria ranks in an unenviable third place from the bottom in terms of defense spending per capita. Only 315 euros fall to each person. Ireland and Malta are the only countries that are behind us in this statistic.
Greece is the leader in the Balkans in this indicator with 615 euros per person, in 13th place in the EU. Slovenia allocates 426 euros, Romania – 414 euros, and Croatia – 406 euros. The Netherlands is the leader in the EU in terms of per capita spending with 1540 euros, and Germany is fifth with 1069 euros. Only five EU countries exceed the threshold of 1000 euros for military spending per person.
Looking at these numbers, the question inevitably arises whether Bulgaria's spending is adequate to contemporary threats and the geopolitical situation.