On Monday, US Assistant Secretary of State Frank Rose in charge of arms control, verification and compliance, arrives to Sofia. In Bulgaria Frank Rose is coming following a trip to Romania in connection with the activation of NATO’s Missile Defense System (MDS) in the military base at Deveselu, as well as a trip to Poland – in connection with the construction of an analogous defense complex in the NATO base at Redzikowo. The deployment of MDS elements to Bulgaria has not been discussed since 2011 when Washington DC and Turkey agreed on such elements deployed in Turkey’s territory. Turkey though is dangerously close to Bulgaria in the event of exchange of missile strikes, and besides, Ankara has recently had quite tense relations with Moscow.
Ten days before Frank Rose’s visit to Bulgaria, on 5 and 6 May Sofia received US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken. His talks with the government went over a wider range of issues but included elements of cooperation in defense, part of the portfolio of Frank Rose. The sides pointed to a 400% increase in Bulgarian-American military activities in the recent years, with a highlight on boosting joint capacity and co-operability.
The frequent shuttles of senior officials of the US State Department in the region are due to the preparation of the upcoming NATO summit due in Warsaw on July 8 and 9. Recently, talking to top military from the Balkan states, Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan stated that the Black Sea had become “A Russian lake” and that he planned to put the question in Warsaw of a NATO presence in the sea as a reaction to Russian military presence. Bulgaria is part of NATO’s southern flank, and this issue concerns her, like it or not. Whether it will be discussed during Frank Rose’s visit will become clear very soon.
English Daniela Konstantinova
The Bulgarian Head of State Rumen Radev insisted on immediate concrete actions by the Bulgarian government and the European institutions for the observance of the European principles in the enlargement of the European Union. "The new..
In talks with the President, we proposed a programmatic government with a clear programme. As the smallest party, we have no right to form it, but we want to know what this government will do, what commitments it will make and in what time frame. So..
As required by the Constitution, President Rumen Radev is holding consultations with representatives of the parliamentary groups in the 50th National Assembly before handing over the first exploratory mandate for the formation of a new Cabinet. After..
Prime Minister of North Macedonia: We will not give up on EU membership but we will not be kneeling down Assessing the..
+359 2 9336 661