Bulgarian Parliament approves US use of air base to support Middle East operations

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SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria's Parliament on Wednesday backed a government proposal to allow the U.S. military to use an air base in the Balkan country to support U.S. operations in the Middle East, while some expressed concern about becoming involved in the Iran war.

The Trump administration has faced pushback from certain other countries in the European Union over the use of air bases in support of its war with Iran.

Legislators in Bulgaria voted 136-13, with two abstentions, to allow up to eight U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft along with 250 personnel and supporting equipment at Bezmer Air Base from Friday to Oct. 1. No further approvals are needed.

Under a 2006 U.S.-Bulgaria defense agreement, the Bezmer facility, about 260 kilometers (160 miles) southeast of the capital, Sofia, is a joint-use facility. Any time the U.S. wants to use the base for a new reason, it requires Parliament approval.

The new military deployment comes after a request by the U.S. Embassy. There was no immediate U.S. comment Wednesday.

Ahead of the vote, Prime Minister Rumen Radev declared that it was “categorically out of the question for military operations in the Middle East to be conducted from Bulgarian territory.”

TV footage showed Radev telling a government meeting that “the deployment of U.S. tanker aircraft at Bezmer Air Base is solely for logistical missions involving in-flight refueling outside Bulgarian airspace,”

Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov told legislators ahead of the vote that all necessary measures had been taken, both nationally and within the allied framework, to ensure that Bulgaria would not become involved in any conflict.

“We requested and received guarantees from our strategic partner aimed at minimizing the risks to our national security,” Stoyanov said.