Of all Nato member states, the Bulgarian army has the highest proportion of female soldiers, who currently make up 12.7 per cent of the country's ranks, or more than 4200 female soldiers. According to a press release from Bulgarian Army headquarters, in 2008 alone, over 1200 females passed selection and were allowed to put on the camouflage DPM's.

The average for the rest of Nato is about 10 per cent. In the near future, however, the Bulgarian army is likely to augment its female presence, as the army wages does not appeal to the male population, whereas most women would settle for a secure governmental job starting at 600 leva, which also has "a wide array of other social and supplementary benefits".

"We have studied this phenomenon carefully, as well as the practices of other Nato members," Defence Minister Nikolai Tsonev said on March 9, as reported by Sega daily, during the seminar "Women, War and Peace", held as part of the implementation of resolution 1325 of the Security Council of the UN. The international conference took place at the Central Military Club in Sofia.

The Norwegian ambassador to Bulgaria, Tove Skarstein, reflected on the fact that, worldwide, more than 100 000 female soldiers were contributing to a wide variety of peace-keeping tasks as part of UN deployments, and that the Bulgarian women had made "a vital contribution to that effort".

"This year, discriminatory regulations preventing women from joining military schools have been slashed," Lieutenant Colonel Nevyana Miteva, from the Union of Female Soldiers, said.

One of the "discriminatory limitations" stated that "women aren't allowed in the air force to serve as front-line combat pilots". Another limitation was that "women are excluded from leading a Bulgarian navy vessel". This year, the Naval Academy in Varna would produce the first qualified female naval commander, Miteva said.