Kathimerini Greece Newsroom
Bulgaria will allow US military aircraft to stay in the NATO member country only until the end of June, after the United States failed to approve a visa-free system for Bulgarian visitors, Prime Minister Rumen Radev has said.
“I fully understand the complexity of the regulatory procedures and the need for time, but we also have our priorities and procedures, and we cannot respond positively to the request for long stays of aircraft and tanks at the Sofia airport,” BTA news agency quoted Radev as saying on Friday.
The announcement comes a day after Radev said Bulgaria is keen to respect its commitment to NATO and increase its defense spending to 5% of its gross domestic product.
Previously president of Bulgaria, Radev resigned from that role ahead of parliamentary elections in April, which he won with a landslide.
Despite some pro-Russian remarks during the campaign, since winning he has said he is willing to follow a European path.
He did not specify when Bulgaria would achieve the 5% target, which US President Donald Trump has demanded.
“We have reached the 2% threshold. We are determined to take the next step by gradually increasing our budget to 5% to meet our defense commitment,” Bulgarian National Radio quoted Radev as telling NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in a meeting in Brussels.
Rutte said on X after the meeting that stepping up defense spending and production was a “top priority” for an upcoming NATO summit. The summit will be hosted in Ankara on July 7-8.
*Source: Reuters
