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Bulgaria, US Discuss Deployment of Unmanned Aircraft
Bulgarian experts are working with Pentagon officials on deploying US pilotless aircraft at Bulgarian military airfields, Bulgarian Defense Minister Boiko Noev said Tuesday.
Earlier on Tuesday, after a session with visiting Norwegian Defense Minister Bjoern Tore Godal, Noev said in a press release that talks have been held on a possible deployment of US reconnaissance drones at Bulgarian airfields.
According to the press release, US experts have been assessing the technical feasibility of such a deployment but no final decision on the matter has been made.
"The interest in this (the deployment) is due to the situation in the east of Bulgaria," Noev said.
Bulgaria borders Macedonia and Serbia to the east. The fighting between ethnic Albanian guerrillas and security forces at Bulgarian borders between Kosovo and Serbia has only recently died down.
Noev said that reconnaissance drones have often been used in the Balkan region and have been performing observation overflights of Kosovo with the agreement of the Yugoslav government. Noev added that the US military uses these aircraft to relay information to the Macedonian government.
US officials have explored the opportunities for deploying such drones in Bulgaria, which Noev described as "favorable." He said that neither the bases which will be used, nor the number of aircraft to be deployed, have been specified. As he put it, this would be done within a couple of months. The drone missions will be under the auspices of NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR).
"If it comes to the drafting of a decision on the deployment affecting the interests of both countries, the agreement will have to be ratified by Parliament. The agreement itself will most probably be concluded with the US, but soundings are still in a preliminary phase," Noev specified.
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