The article in the Financial Times on Wednesday reporting that Iran has “weighed” striking military bases in Europe used by the U.S. in its military campaign against Iran, has caused a political uproar in Bulgaria and panic in Greece. The two potential targets named in the FT report were the Bezmer airbase in central Bulgaria and the British airbase in Cyprus.
On July 22, the Bulgarian parliament voted to approve a U.S. request to station eight KC-135 air refueling tankers at Bezmer. That approval was based in part on assurances by the government of Prime Minister Rumen Radev that there would be no threat to Bulgaria’s security as a result of the presence of the U.S. aircraft, but opposition leaders are now loudly questioning those assurances.
Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said on Wednesday that security measures at Bezmer had been coordinated with the Ministry of Defense under the direction of the Prime Minister and included precautions addressing a much higher threat-level than that indicated by the available information, reported BTA. Separately, Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov took to the air waves to rule out danger to the country. “There is no direct threat to national security,” Stoyanov said, adding that NATO had expressed readiness to respond to any threat.
Kostadin Kostadinov, leader of Vazrazhdane, an opposition party, accused the ruling Progressive Bulgaria party of endangering the country. “Promoting foreign interests in national policy always leads to the failure of governance,” Kostadinov said. “The policies of Progressive Bulgaria are destroying Bulgarian sovereignty, turning Bulgaria not into a state but into a colonial territory.” Another opposition party accused Radev’s government of dragging the country into a war.
