Reforming a country’s armed forces is always an enormous task. Bulgaria, which just 20 years ago was still one of the founding members of the communist-era Warsaw Pact, is no exception. Since 1989, when the country turned to democracy, thousands of officers have been dismissed, conscription has been abolished and hundreds of units all over the country disbanded.

The changes left legions of jobless with little prospect of reintegrating into the newly democratic and money-driven modern Bulgaria.

The final touch to this enormous and highly unpopular effort, at least according to Defence Minister Nikolai Tsonev, was the newly adopted Defence Act, designed to make Bulgaria comply with its duties as a Nato member. Indeed, if it wasn’t for Nato, the Defence Act could have remained unchanged for some time, just as it has done over the past 20 years.

After Bulgarian joined Nato in 2004, however, there was no alternative to the new law regardless of President Georgi Purvanov’s objections. So it was that on May 7 he finally decided to promulgate it.

Concerned
Although the draft bill of the new Defence Act was welcomed in some circles, Purvanov was highly critical of it in September 2008 when Tsonev first presented it. Purvanov’s reaction was so negative that Tsonev had to redraft it. Purvanov also disapproved of the second draft in April 2009 when it was put to a vote in Parliament. But this time he had little room for manoeuvre because he was emerging as an isolated opponent of reform.

Purvanov’s main concern was the so-called integration model of army governance that curtailed his powers as commander-in-chief by strengthening the powers of the Defence Ministry. The new model provides for integration of the current political and military command into one structure within the Defence Ministry. The army’s chief of staff is replaced by a commander of defence appointed by the President at the request of the Government.

Hence the bill provides for abolishing some structures that have overlapping powers within the Defence Ministry and the Army Chief of Staff. In this sense the new act shifts the balance of power in the army. Although the president is still "the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Bulgaria", as stipulated by the constitution, he now has less power to appoint officers to key positions.

This will now be the responsibility of the Defence Minister. The constitution, as it now stands, reads that the President "shall appoint and dismiss the higher command of the Armed Forces and shall appoint all higher military ranks on a motion from the Council of Ministers". But, under the terms of the new act, his role will be more of a ceremonial one.   
Hence on May 6, Bulgarian Army Day, Purvanov told reporters that he had a "different concept" about civil control of the military to that implied by the bill. "We now have a situation that could result in strong political control over the army. I hope to God that I am wrong," he said. This, according to some media reports, represented the final resistance of a circle of generals to the introduction of the integration model.

The media wondered if Purvanov’s statement was a sign that he might choose not to promulgate the bill and return it to Parliament. But much to the relief of Defence Minister Tsonev, who concluded that the reform of the Bulgarian army was now complete, Purvanov signed the bill the following day.