Posted on 05/14/2005 7:04:39 AM PDT by Lukasz
SOFIA - The US Congress has decided to use three Bulgarian military bases for the deployment of US forces, Defence Minister Nikolay Svinarov said on Saturday.
“It has not yet been clarified which exactly those bases will be, but we know there will be three of them,” Svinarov told BTA news agency.
A US governmental delegation was expected to arrive in Bulgaria in the coming days to discuss the bases, the Bulgarian army said last week.
The stationing of US troops in Bulgaria is part of a broader US strategy of shifting troops based in Europe further east.
The aim is to move soldiers from positions chosen to cope with a possible Soviet invasion of Europe to a deployment better suited to the current US preoccupation with terrorism and conflicts in the Middle East.
In December, Svinarov had told AFP that a permanent deployment of US troops to Bulgaria would involve up to 3,000 people.
The following month, NATO’s top commander in Europe, General James Jones, said in Sofia that he planned to recommend to the US Congress “four or five” military bases in Bulgaria.
Jones then visited three of the possible locations — the Novo Selo base, in eastern Bulgaria, the Bezmer airbase near Yambol, to the southeast, and another in the Black Sea port city of Bourgas.
Novo Selo has been used for several years as a training centre for French and Italian army troops.
The Graf Ignatievo airbase, near Plovdiv in the south, the naval base at Atia and the airport of Sarafovo, in Bourgas, were other of the possible picks.
Sarafovo was used by the United States to station refueling aircraft during operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“During future talks we expect to decide precisely which ones the bases will be and under what conditions they will be requested by the US government,” Svinarov said on Saturday.
The Bulgarian parliament has to decide when the actual deployment will take place, he added.
The decision, according to him, will be taken by the end of the year, BTA reported.
Good for the US, good for Bulgaria. A pitty it's not us.
Caspian Sea Scenario BUMP.
Cool Georgia and Poland would be a nice place to reposition Ramstein Airbase. Let the Nazis wallow in their own socialist filth!!!
Why pity, better to follow tradition without foreign bases, even if they are allies. I would rather see US base in Gerogia.
Betcha Putin loves this.
You have a wonderful Free Republic home page!
It would certainly be ironic if a nuclear device supplied by Iran to terrorists hit Russia in the future. It would mean that the material came full circle from in the raw to nuclear grade under the watchful supervision of Russia. It's a Tom Clancy book waiting to be written.
thank you very much!
I can't help myself. I keep coming back again and again just to read the title. I LIKE IT!
And the MSM says we're losing. HA! Not even!
Romania too! This just keeps getting better and better.
Ditto that
On behalf
"This actually gives US full control of Black Sea, as well it puts Turkey on notice; just in case they want to stab US in back. This also puts Russia navy in Black Sea on notice as well. Though we don't have permanent US bases in our country; we have staging areas that can be use by US; and our corporation with US military is much closer then is being publicize."
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SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) - Bulgaria said Saturday it will provide three military bases for use by U.S. forces.
American officials have said they could use Bulgarian sites to deploy troops on rotational training tours as part of a broader U.S. strategy of shifting troops based in Europe further east.
An American team was expected in Bulgaria next week to discuss the bases, senior military officials have said.
Defense Minister Nikolai Svinarov said three bases will be offered to the Americans but "it remains to be determined which bases are to be chosen," according to the state news agency, BTA.
Parliament has the final say on the deployment of foreign troops, he said, adding a decision would be made by the end of the year.
Bulgaria, which joined NATO last year along with six other ex-communist nations, has declared its willingness to provide training grounds for U.S. troops.
Washington is interested in small, flexible bases, different from those set up to house large numbers of troops during the Cold War.
Earlier this year, the top commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Europe, General James Jones, said in Sofia he would propose to the U.S. Congress "four or five Bulgarian military facilities for use by U.S. forces."
Jones visited three possible locations - the Bezmer air base and the Novo Selo training area in southeastern Bulgaria, and the Black Sea port of Burgas.
Other possible options mentioned by military officials are the Graf Ignatievo air base in southern Bulgaria, the Black Sea base Atia and the nearby Sarafovo airport, used already by the United States to station refueling aircraft during operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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