Bulgaria’s government is moving to place U.S. military tanker aircraft at the Bezmer military airfield and is seeking parliamentary approval for the deployment. Prime Minister Rumen Radev says the request is intended to support U.S. operations in the Middle East. He adds that earlier plans to station similar aircraft at a civilian airport triggered public controversy, prompting the government to pursue the military base option instead.
Multiple outlets report that the government plans to ask parliament to authorize up to eight U.S. tanker aircraft and associated personnel at Bezmer, located in central Bulgaria. Bloomberg and other reports say lawmakers approved the U.S. request, while NDTV reports a deployment window running from Friday through October, without further approvals during that period. Balkan Insight says Radev expects parliament will likely approve the long-term use of the air base for refuelling, noting his criticism of U.S. planes at Sofia’s main airport.
Overall, the sources describe a NATO/EU member state taking domestic legislative steps to enable U.S. basing for logistics support for Middle East operations.
