Sat, Jul 04 2009

US BASES IN BULGARIA DESPITE PUBLIC DISAPPROVAL

Mon, Mar 27 2006 09:31 CET 221 Views

Bulgaria and the US agreed on the positioning of foreign troops in three Bulgarian military bases, despite the public disapproval, Reuters news agency reported.

The US would use such bases to position its troops closer to hotspots in the Middle East and Africa, the agency reported. Each Bulgarian base will accommodate up to 3000 US soldiers.

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice is expected to sign the agreement during her visit to Bulgaria in April. Rice will attend a NATO summit in Sofia.

US troops will use the Bezmer aviation base, Novo Selo base and Graf Ignatievo airport. Troops will also use storage facilities close to the Black Sea city of Bourgas. The agreement will be signed for a 10-year period.

Bulgaria joined NATO in 2004 and is eager to show its ability to be a stable NATO ally, Reuters reported. It will permit the military training of foreign troops in national bases, despite the negative public opinion.

Ultra-nationalist movement Ataka started a campaign against the foreign bases. A survey shows nearly 60 per cent of the Bulgarians oppose the agreement.

The bases, however, will provide foreign investment and open new work positions, Reuters reported.

Write comment

Name: Comment:
Send your comment

More in this category

Euro area unemployment highest since May 1999

Unemployment in euro area was 9.5 per cent in May 2009, new Eurostat figures say. Joblessness figures in all EU states are higher than a year ago.

Bulgarian customs hustle with statements of no swine flu infection

Bulgarian customs have allegedly found a new source of additional income; demanding declarations that travellers are not infected with the swine flu virus.

The return of the bendy cucumber

Perhaps the fruit of having been satirised, Brussels sprouts a statement slicing out EU rules on the size and shape of fruit and veg.

Sweden takes over EU presidency

Dealing with financial crisis, climate change, are priorities, says Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt as his country assumes the six-month rotating presidency of the EU on July 1 2009.

Don’t burn, baby, burn

European Commission warns consumers to be ‘sun-smart’ this summer.

© 2000-2009, Sofia Echo Media Ltd.

Web Design by RIZN

The news and information content on this website is provided by our editorial team and is copyrighted. Any unauthorised reproduction or use of it is strictly forbidden. Reproduction of this website's content is permitted only with prior written permission from the Editor-in-Chief, should be propertly acredited and provide an active link back to our site. Comments posted by the website's visitors are independent of the editorial materials and do not represent the views of sofiaecho.com. Sofia Echo Media cannot be held responsible for the statements contained in visitor comments. The percentаge change in the shares' prices are based on the price of the last transaction of the current session compared to the price of the last transaction of the previous session. Bulgarian Stock Exchange data is not real-time, but updated every 15 minutes, and should not be used as a basis for decisions about buying or selling stock options.