site.btaGERB Leader Borissov: Government Created Its Own Problem over US Tanker Aircraft

The Government created its own problem over the US tanker aircraft at Bezmer Air Base by accusing previous governments of lying, GERB leader Boyko Borissov said on Monday.

“They should simply have continued the decisions taken by previous governments. Instead, in their desire always to act aggressively, they tried to claim that the previous governments had lied. In fact, they created the problem themselves,” Borissov said, referring to the US tanker aircraft that had been stationed at Bezmer Air Base until several days ago.

“No one except Vazrazhdane would have spoken out if the aircraft had remained at Vrazhdebna. “When the aircraft were moved to Yambol, it became clear that the people here did not matter either to the Youth and Sports Minister or to the Government. What is the difference between Sofia and Yambol? Are there two kinds of people? Yes, those of us in Sofia breathed a sigh of relief, but what is the difference?” Borissov said.

Borissov was referring to Youth and Sports Minister Encho Keryazov, a former deputy mayor of Yambol. Keryazov accompanied Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov to Yambol on July 24 to defend and explain the Bezmer deployment to local mayors and protesters. He said he had no personal concerns about it, despite a petition signed by 3,249 residents.

“No one would have said a word if they had not kept lying that the deployment posed no danger. The aircraft would have stayed, then left, and there would have been no drama, but they wanted to create drama,” Borissov said. He argued that if there was no threat, NATO would have had no reason to comment on the matter. “They became entangled in lies in an attempt to show that they were doing something. But if there is no danger, why are they doing it?”

The US Air Force tanker aircraft left Bezmer Air Base and departed Bulgaria on August 21, Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said on Saturday.

The aircraft were initially deployed at Vasil Levski Sofia Airport after the Andrey Gurov caretaker Cabinet authorized up to 15 of them to remain there from February 17 to May 31 for NATO enhanced vigilance activities. The current Government extended their stay until June 30. Radev subsequently said military aircraft should be stationed at military rather than civilian airports and proposed Bezmer or Graf Ignatievo as alternative locations.

On July 22, Parliament authorized the deployment of up to eight KC-135 tanker aircraft, their crews, up to 250 US military personnel and support equipment at Bezmer from July 24 to October 1 in support of US operations in the Middle East. The deployment drew opposition from all five mayors in Yambol Region and protests by local residents. Security at the base was later tightened following a Financial Times report that Iranian forces had assessed US military assets in Bulgaria, although the authorities said there was no direct threat to national security.