Radev's Bezmer U-Turn - Novinite. com - EUROPE SAYS
Bulgaria’s parliament approved the deployment of up to eight US KC-135 tanker aircraft and 250 service members at the Bezmer air base near Yambol on July 22, voting 135 to 13 with two abstentions. The planes,. . .
Bulgaria’s parliament approved the deployment of up to eight US KC-135 tanker aircraft and 250 service members at the Bezmer air base near Yambol on July 22, voting 135 to 13 with two abstentions. The planes, needed for refueling in Middle East operations (as Western media likes to call the f’n US-Iran war), are authorized to stay until October 1. The decision has exposed a glaring reversal in Prime Minister Rumen Radev’s own positions. As president, Radev repeatedly warned that Bulgaria risked being drawn into” war by supporting Ukraine, and criticized the previous government for allowing similar tanker planes to use Sofia’s civilian airport earlier this year. He tied the extension of that Sofia stay to a US visa waiver for Bulgarians, and when Washington didn’t respond, let the deployment lapse. Weeks later, he’s requesting the same kind of aircraft be based 300km away at Bezmer, insisting this poses no risk of “involvement,” while simultaneously withdrawing Bulgaria from the EU’s “Coalition of the Willing” supporting Ukraine. Opposition figures, including former Foreign Minister Nadezhda Neynski, argue Radev is applying two different definitions of national security depending on which war is in question. Meanwhile GERB, We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria, several of which tolerated the original Sofia deployment while in government, boycotted the Bezmer vote now that they’re in opposition. Local resistance has been real too. Mayors of five municipalities near Bezmer opposed the plan, a petition gathered over 600 signatures within hours and the deployment was delayed a week so Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov could meet with residents and insist Bulgaria “is not a target. ”The political cost is showing in the polls. A Market Links survey from July 11-19 found trust in Radev’s government fell 8 percent since May, with distrust up 11 percent, driven partly by the budget and partly by what pollsters call inconsistent messaging on foreign policy. Radev still remains Bulgaria’s most trusted politician, but the gap is narrowing. Tags:bulgariaБългарияновини