The National Assembly has ratified a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Ministry of National Defense of Romania for the establishment of a Regional Special Operations Component Command Headquarters, BTA reported. 118 MPS voted for, 38 voted against and four abstained.

The document, which was signed on July 10 between the two countries during the NATO summit in Washington, is related to the NATO command and control system. The contract stipulates that the Headquarters will not be permanently operational, but in accordance with the mechanisms of the Alliance for participation in allied operations or in the activation of its defense plans, as well as for participation in bilateral and multinational exercises and training. The treaty states that once full operational capabilities were achieved, each country would serve as a Lead Nation, hosting the command on a rotating basis. The rotation period will be one year long, extendable to two if necessary. The Romanian side is also scheduled to take command first.

Regional Special Operations Component Command Headquarters will be capable of commanding and controlling multinational special operations forces (SOF) and NATO operations support and conduct forces, it was reported.