Muristek
This weekend, US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin visited Bulgaria and carried out a joint press conference with Bulgarian Prime Minister, Kiril Petkov. Lloyd also addressed US and Bulgarian troops in Bulgaria, speaking of building trust.
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Lloyd and Petkov announced that the US is providing Stryker company to be staged in Bulgaria. The US is establishing a battlegroup of up to 1,000 troops under the operational command of NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe. This is a 180 turn. Former Bulgarian Defense Minister, Stefan Yanev, expressed a position back in February that American troops in Bulgaria were not necessary and the move has to be avoided. Allowing US troops in Bulgaria is an unnecessary risk and a liability.Previously, in December 2021, I expressed an opinion in Novinite that staging US troops on Bulgarian territory would be a disaster. The former Defense Minister Yanev held the same position. Yanev was sacked quickly after pushing a more measured position vis-à-vis the war in Ukraine.
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The presence of US troops usually also represents risk for the locals. Just like the presence of UN peacekeepers, their presence is often bad news for the local population. In June 2021, US troops randomly stormed and raided a Bulgarian factory. More of armed US troops on Bulgarian soil will open more risky situations.In line with Petkov's policy towards Russia, the move escalates Bulgaria's position by creating unnecessary risk in terms of the message the Bulgarian leadership is sending President Putin.
In the same time, Prime Minister Petkov said that Bulgaria will not be sending Ukraine weaponry, the way other Eastern flank NATO and EU countries are.
There are layers of engagement in this situation and the Bulgarian leadership needs to be aware that on some decisions you can't backtrack because President Putin will retaliate accordingly.Iveta Cherneva is an author and political commentator.
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