Bulgaria’s parliament voted on Wednesday to approve the stationing of US Air Force refuelling aircraft in the country to support American operations in the Middle East.
Lawmakers backed the request, submitted by the United States on Friday, by 136 votes to 13, with two abstentions.
The decision allows for the deployment of up to eight KC-135 tanker aircraft and as many as 250 military personnel. They will be based at Bezmer military air base in south-eastern Bulgaria from 24 July until 1 October 2026.
The authorisation is based on a 2006 defence co-operation agreement between Bulgaria and the United States, which gives US forces access to several Bulgarian military facilities, including Bezmer.
On Tuesday, Tehran warned that granting permission would make Bulgaria “an accomplice of the aggressors and criminals.”
US Air Force tanker aircraft had already been deployed in February at Sofia’s civil airport with the approval of the government of former prime minister Rossen Jeliazkov.
At the end of May, President Rumen Radev said he had received a request to extend their stay but added that he had linked his approval to the lifting of visa requirements for Bulgarian citizens travelling to the United States.
Sofia did not secure that concession, and the last US aircraft left Sofia airport at the end of June.
