SENIOR Bulgarian officials have expressed confidence that an agreement on United States use of military bases in Bulgaria will be finalised next spring.

In an interview on November 19 with Darik Radio, Bulgaria’s ambassador to NATO, Lyubomir Ivanov, said that Bulgaria and the US had made considerable progress so far.

“What was agreed in October was perhaps more than either side expected. It is not possible to say how many rounds of talks will be conducted, because there is a subject we have not started discussing yet - the subject of the status of forces, which concerns the conditions of entry, exit and operation of the US contingents,” Ivanov said.

Both the US and Bulgaria have emphasised, through statements by various officials in recent weeks, that the bases will remain Bulgarian facilities.

Ivanov told Darik that each facility to be used by the US would be run by a Bulgarian commanding officer.

“He will interact with a US commander, who will be in charge of his men only. So, there can be no talk of ‘US bases’ - they will remain our bases.”

He said that there would be two such facilities, at Bezmer and at Novo Selo. The US would be making a large investment, Ivanov said.

An issue that remained to be resolved concerned which jurisdiction would apply if a US service person committed a crime in Bulgaria.

Speaking to journalists on November 22, Defence Minister Vesselin Bliznakov said that he hoped that the signing of the agreement would take place in February or March.

Bliznakov said that there would be several further rounds of discussions before the agreement took effect.

Romania is expected to sign its deal with the US in December, during a visit by US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice.

Regarding Bulgaria’s involvement in Iraq, Bliznakov said that Bulgaria might send a new contingent of 120 peacekeepers to Iraq after it completes the planned withdrawal of the 380 troops now stationed there. Discussions are continuing about the future form of Bulgaria’s future participation in Iraq.

Meanwhile, Bulgarian armed forces chief General Nikola Kolev said that about 70 Bulgarian military personnel would be sent to Kabul in spring 2006, as part of a 300-strong contingent that is to guard the Afghan capital’s airport.

Bulgaria also plans to strengthen its participation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A hundred military personnel will join the Bulgarian platoon there in the spring of 2006.

On November 21, Defence Minister Bliznakov attended a meeting of EU defence ministers.

Before the meeting, Bliznakov and his counterparts from Greece, Cyprus and Romania signed a letter of intent on setting up a tactical combat group of the EU with Greece as the leading country. The group is to achieve operational readiness from July 2007. Talks on a memorandum of understanding and a technical agreement will start in 2006. Bulgaria’s proposal is that Bulgaria join the Greece-led EU tactical combat group with a light infantry company and five staff officers.

At the meeting, the defence ministers discussed the progress made in developing the military capability of the EU, civilian and military co-ordination to this end, and comprehensive planning of EU-led civilian, military and civilian and military crisis management operations. Special attention was paid to EU operations in the Balkans, in Africa and in Asia.