The Parliamentary Defense Committee supported a draft decision for the residence in Bulgaria of US aviation and military personnel to support operations in the Middle East with 11 votes “for“, one “against“ and two “abstentions“. A vote on the decision is pending in the plenary hall.
The draft decision was submitted for consideration in the parliament by the Council of Ministers on July 20. It was presented to the committee by the Minister of Defense Dimitar Stoyanov, who answered the questions of the members of the parliament.
The government's proposal is related to a diplomatic note received from the United States requesting that tanker aircraft, military personnel with personal weapons and ammunition, as well as the necessary airport equipment be stationed at the Bezmer air base for the period from July 24 to October 1, 2026. This includes up to eight American KS-135 tanker aircraft and up to 250 military personnel from the US Armed Forces.
The Minister of Defense noted that on Friday he will be in Yambol, where he is ready to talk with all the mayors of the district in which the Bezmer military airport is located. He added that a decision is being sought from the National Assembly regarding the planes due to public concerns over the previous deployment of US planes at Sofia airport.
A military intelligence analysis shows that there are risks, but there is no direct threat to national security, Dimitar Stoyanov added.
The minister pointed out that an assessment is still being made of the possibility of the planes being deployed at the Bezmer airport, and there is no final assessment yet. According to him, if the US decides that it is impossible to deploy the equipment at this airport, a new note will have to be submitted. He added that he is still awaiting information from the US on how and where fuel for the military aircraft will be supplied.
Regarding the possibility of the aircraft being stationed in Bulgaria, Minister Stoyanov noted that this is done under a 2006 agreement.
Asked whether the decision on the aircraft is related to the derogation for “Lukoil“, Minister Stoyanov said that he is not responsible for the derogations and does not know of any. When asked whether American equipment will be used for an operation against Iran, he noted that the US note mentioned “the Middle East“. He also added that Bulgaria is not participating in the operation with either forces or means.
The Commission rejected Ivaylo Mirchev's proposal to hear the director of the “Military Information“ Service today in a closed session (ed. note – military intelligence) Brigadier General Venelin Venev.
On May 29, the government adopted a decision to extend until June 30 this year the period of stay in Bulgaria of up to 15 American aircraft, servicing personnel and equipment. After that, the aviation equipment left the Bulgarian airport “Vasil Levski“ in Sofia. At the beginning of the government meeting on May 29, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said that there was no positive response so far to the abolition of visas for Bulgarian citizens to the USA. He noted that Bulgaria also has its own priorities and procedures and cannot respond positively to the request for a long stay of tanker aircraft at the airport in Sofia.