Bulgaria Affirms 5 Percent GDP NATO Defense Spending Commitment

NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte called Bulgaria a ‘valued ally making important contributions to our shared security.’

NATO Foreign Ministers attend the NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, on May 22, 2026. Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images

Bulgaria’s prime minister has reaffirmed his country’s commitment to spending 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defense, saying Europe needed to do more to boost its own defense capacity.

Prime Minister Rumen Radev did not specify when his country would achieve that target, but said on May 28 that the government was consistently making progress.