site.btaVazrazhdane Leader Warns of War Risk after Parliament Approves Deployment of US Refuelling Aircraft in Bulgaria

The risk of war is "at Bulgaria's doorstep", Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov said on Wednesday after Parliament approved the deployment of up to eight US aerial refuelling aircraft and up to 250 military personnel at Bezmer Air Base to support US operations in the Middle East.

Kostadinov said that, unlike a previous diplomatic note, which he claimed had been concealed by Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria, the latest note from Iran had been delivered directly to the National Assembly by the Iranian ambassador and handed to Progressive Bulgaria Floor Leader Petar Vitanov.

He said he was concerned that Iran could decide to strike Bulgaria because, in his view, the country had become involved in the conflict against Iran. "We can do nothing about it," he added.

Kostadinov dismissed suggestions that US forces would protect Bulgaria, arguing that the United States had failed to protect its own bases in the Middle East.

Commenting on Prime Minister Rumen Radev's address to Parliament earlier on Wednesday, Kostadinov said that had Radev expressed the same views during the election campaign, he would have received "exactly five votes". He described the speech as "a celebration of hypocrisy, duplicity and betrayal".

Quoting former British prime minister Winston Churchill, Kostadinov said: "You were given the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour, and you will have war." He added that, in his view, this was what Radev had done.