Bulgarian Air Force Ready for Fire-Risk Season

The Bulgarian Air Force is fully ready for the upcoming fire-risk season.

Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov confirmed that the mission of U.S. military aircraft on Bulgarian territory has ended and that the last aircraft left the country on Sunday, BGNES reported. Yesterday, the last aircraft took off at around 2:00 p. m.

He stressed that the U.S. side had complied with the Bulgarian government’s decision for the mission to end by the end of June.

Our colleagues and strategic partners complied with the decision of the Council of Ministers and respected our view on the matter, the defense minister said on Monday. He said the Ministry of Defense and the Air Force are ready for the upcoming fire-risk season, with an increased number of aircraft and trained crews. According to Stoyanov, this year the military has significantly better capabilities than last summer.

Stoyanov’s comments came after an inspection of readiness at the 24th Air Base in Krumovo. The withdrawal came because the authorization for the stay of the U.S. aircraft was due to expire on June 30, after the Council of Ministers agreed to extend by only one month the stay of up to 15 U.S. Air Force aircraft, along with their support personnel and equipment.

The U.S. request was for an extension until the end of July, but Prime Minister Rumen Radev decided to link the authorization to the lifting of U.S. visa requirements for Bulgaria.