Bulgaria to seek approval for US tanker aircraft deployment at military base

Bulgaria will seek parliamentary approval on July 20 to allow up to eight U.S. tanker aircraft to be stationed at a military airfield, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said, following controversy over an earlier plan to base the aircraft at a civilian airport.

The government will ask parliament to approve a U.S. request to deploy the tanker planes at the Bezmer military facility in support of American military operations in the Middle East, Radev said at an annual conference of Bulgarian ambassadors in Sofia, Reuters reports.

The aircraft, which are primarily used to refuel other planes in the air, had previously been stationed at a civilian airport near Sofia without prior parliamentary approval. The move sparked controversy, and the aircraft left Bulgaria last month.

"The problem was that the military planes were based at a civilian airport in close proximity to Sofia. That is why we proposed to our allies to occupy ⁠military airfields," Radev said.

The Bezmer military base is located about 260 kilometres southeast of Sofia.

The development comes as the United States and Iran have intensified strikes following the collapse of an interim ceasefire agreement reached a month ago, raising concerns over a possible return to full-scale conflict. Israel is also preparing to receive additional U.S. refuelling aircraft, an Israeli military official said on July 19.

By Sabina Mammadli