It is possible that the agreement on joint US-Bulgarian military bases allows the United States to send troops against third countries without asking the permission of the Bulgarian Government.

Days before a visit by US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice to Bulgaria, a report to this effect was published in The Washington Times and circulated through major Bulgarian media. Rice is currently in Sofia at the NATO ministerial meeting, where she is expected to sign the agreement between the US and Bulgaria on military bases that the Bulgarian Cabinet ratified on April 20.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Dimitar Tsantchev and members of the parliamentary committee on defence Nikolai Svinarov and Krasimir Karakachanov rejected the reports as inaccurate. Yordan Velichkov, an independent MP, said that he did not know about such a clause in the framework agreement between the two countries.

On April 26, Defence Minister Vesselin Bliznakov told the nationwide Bulgarian station bTV that such a provision was not part of the text of the framework agreement. Additional agreements that will be signed between the two countries in the following months would relate only to technical matters arising from the mutual command of the military bases, he said.

Bulgaria and the US will sign additional agreements in at least 10 spheres, Bliznakov told a March 24 news conference held immediately after the two countries reached their final agreement on the US bases. The agreements would settle the co-ordination between the commander of the bases or equipments, who will be a Bulgarian officer, and the commander of the US contingent residing in the base in question.

Bulgarian daily newspaper Dnevnik reported, quoting what it said were sources in the Defence Ministry, that future additional agreements would also concern operational freedom, mutual command, the development of infrastructure and investments. This would make them much more important than the framework agreement itself. Additional agreements would, moreover, be ratified only by the Cabinet, as opposed to the Cabinet and Parliament, as is the case with the framework agreement.

The ability of the US to use soldiers where they need them is one of the key issues for the US military, The Washington Times said, quoting an anonymous American representative. Bulgaria agreed to host three US bases that would be ready to wage wars in the Middle East and other regions, The Washington Times said.

The controversy about possible operations against third countries arose as US secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld approved a new plan to fight terrorism that would allow the Pentagon to only inform the US ambassador, instead of ask his or her permission, when deciding to stage military operations, French media reported. The plan is part of new anti-terrorism measures that will increase the role of the Pentagon at the expense of the CIA and the US department of state.

In the words of NATO Permanent Representative of Bulgaria Lyubomir Ivanov, possible large-scale military operations against third countries would only happen after consultations between the US and Bulgaria. These would take place through the US embassy in Sofia. At press time of The Sofia Echo, Ivanov and US ambassador to Bulgaria John Beyrle had not been available to comment on this issue.

The operational freedom of the shared bases was one of the most disputed issues during US-Bulgarian negotiations. It became much more prominent as news about possible attacks against Iran came to the fore. Some Bulgarian media reported that Bliznakov had said that a possible attack would imply Bulgarian co-operation. The Defence Ministry’s press centre denied these reports immediately, saying that the media had misquoted Bliznakov.

Iran and its nuclear enrichment programme were hot discussion issues during Rice’s visits to Greece and Turkey on April 24-26, the days immediately preceding her April 27-28 visit to Sofia. On the day of Rice’s visit to Greece, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Iran would give up its participation in the nuclear non-proliferation treaty if the international community continued to pressure the country. He said that the UN Security Council would not impose sanctions on Iran and that he would not stop the enrichment of uranium. Asked to comment, Rice said that such statements only deepened Iran’s isolation from the international community, which was represented by the Security Council, and its presidential statement that pushes Iran to stop its enrichment activities and return to negotiations.

“It’s important to note that the Security Council is, by far, the most important vehicle (for achieving an agreement on Iran),” Rice said.
“But if we cannot achieve unity in the Security Council there may be states that wish to take other actions. And by that I mean through financial or other means. The president of the United States doesn’t take any of his options off the table. But (...) we believe that the diplomatic course (...) will ultimately succeed.”

Rice asked both Greece and Turkey to support tougher measures against Iran, quoting Tehran’s intentions to export nuclear technology know-how, Reuters reported. As an important NATO ally in the fight against international terrorism, drug trafficking and Islamic fundamentalism, Rice would probably exact the same from Bulgaria.

Apart from Iran, Rice and Greek foreign minister Dora Bakoyannis discussed relations between the two countries; security issues in the world; advancing democracy and peace in the broader Middle East and beyond; combating terrorism; Cyprus and Turkey’s EU accession; and Eurasian energy security. The topics of her meeting with leaders in Turkey and Bulgaria were more or less the same, the US department of state said. In Greece, Rice asked Greek prime minister Kostas Karamanlis to review the agreement with Gazprom about the new gas pipeline under construction between Greece and Turkey. The US wants both countries to reduce their reliance on Russian gas supplies.

In Turkey, Rice confirmed support for the country’s EU entry. On the issue of Cyprus, she said that both Turkey and Cyprus should make compromises. When asked about Kosovo, she said that finding a quick solution to Kosovo’s status would help stability and the European Union prospects of the region.

Both in Greece and Turkey, Rice was met with anti-American demonstrations. They were organised by communist and anti-globalist organisations in Greece, and Islamic and leftist ones in Turkey. In Greece, about 3000 people protested against US policy towards Iraq and Iran, about 100 metres from the place where Rice held talks with Bakoyannis, the Associated Press reported. At least 5000 police guarded the Greek capital and used teargas to disperse protesters. It was the first time in 20 years that a US secretary of state visited Greece, Bulgarian-language newspaper Standart reported.

In Turkey, two young men were arrested for stretching a poster saying: “Murderer Rice, go home!” Also in Turkey, about 300 people protested on a street a few hundred metres from the building where Rice met  Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gul.

In Bulgaria, Sofia municipality forbade ultra-nationalist party Ataka from holding demonstrations at the National Palace of Culture (NDK), where the NATO ministerial was scheduled to take place. Instead, protesters were told to gather in Sofia’s South Park. The party’s newspaper, Ataka, reported that it would rally in front of NDK although the area is cordoned off by police. Ataka representatives also said that Ataka planned to give Rice a petition signed by 350 000 people insisting on a referendum about the deployment of US military in Bulgaria.

The majority of the Bulgarian population has traditionally been pro-NATO. Nevertheless, Bulgaria’s political elite has been shy about acknowledging Bulgaria’s interest in NATO membership and tight-lipped at best about the agreement on joint military bases.