Bulgaria to Seek Parliament Approval for US Tanker Aircraft at Bezmer Base

The Bulgarian government will ask the National Assembly to approve the temporary deployment of up to eight U.S. KC‑135 tanker aircraft and up to 250 U.S. service members at the Bezmer military airfield in southeastern Bulgaria. The request, made under the 2006 defence cooperation agreement, is intended to support U.S. operations in the Middle East after a previous, controversial stationing of similar aircraft at Sofia’s civilian airport earlier this year.

Bulgaria’s parliamentary Defence Committee has voted to endorse the proposal, and a full plenary vote is pending. The move has drawn diplomatic criticism from Iran, whose foreign ministry warned that allowing U.S. use of Bulgarian territory would make Sofia complicit in acts of aggression against Tehran and breach international law.