Bulgaria wants defense spending excluded from budget deficit, PM says

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — Bulgarian special operations forces soldiers engage a target downrange during Trojan Footprint 24 near Sofia, Bulgaria, March 6, 2024. (U.S. Army photo taken by Sgt. Alejandro Lucero via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)

(Reuters) -Bulgaria will ask for defence spending to be excluded from its  budget deficit, BTA news agency quoted its prime minister as saying on Monday, as Sofia tries to meet key requirements for joining the euro zone next year.

In March, Bulgaria approved a 2025 budget targeting a deficit of 3% of economic output. 

But European Union member states are being encouraged to increase spending on defence under EU rearmament plans driven by Russia's war in Ukraine and fears that Europe can no longer be sure of U.S. protection.  

The European Commission, the EU executive body, has already proposed that defence spending be exempt from limits imposed by EU rules on government debt. 

BTA quoted Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov as saying during talks with European Council President Antonio Costa that Sofia would ask the Commission to adopt a national derogation clause for defence to allowing non-compliance with EU budgetary rules.

Defence spending in Bulgaria will account for over 2% of GDP  this year, Zhelyazkov was quoted as saying, with a further increase possible if an exclusion clause is in place.  

 (Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Timothy Heritage)