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U.S. Negotiating Use of Shared Military Bases in Romania, Bulgaria

04 November 2005

Ambassador says all democratic nations have interest in security of Black Sea

By Vince Crawley
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The United States is negotiating for access to military bases in Bulgaria and Romania to help ensure security and prosperity in the vital Black Sea region, a U.S. diplomat said November 3.

“The United States has been in the process of making agreements with the countries in the Black Sea region as part of our Global Military Posture Review,” U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria John R. Beyrle said in remarks at the Black Sea Maritime Conference in Sofia, Bulgaria.

“We are negotiating with Bulgaria and Romania for the use of shared military facilities, which will improve our joint ability to respond to crisis and which will allow us to train together and operate together more effective,” Beyrle said.

On October 23, U.S. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley visited Bucharest, Romania, and said the United States and Romania expected to reach an agreement “very soon” that would allow American troops to use military bases near the Black Sea. Hadley did not discuss basing negotiations in neighboring Bulgaria, but U.S. officials have been negotiating with both countries for more than a year. (See related story.)

U.S. Department of Defense officials have said that Black Sea facilities, if approved, would be used mainly as temporary bases for several thousand troops on short assignments. The troops’ home bases would remain in the United States or Germany. About 100 American personnel would be on long-term assignment in the region as part of an Eastern European Task Force.

The Associated Press, quoting U.S. Embassy officials in Sofia, reported October 26 that the basing plan would involve about 5,000 American troops on six-month rotations – 2,700 in Bulgaria and 2,300 in Romania. Officials stressed that negotiations still are ongoing.

In his remarks at the maritime conference, Beyrle said shipping traffic into and out of the Black Sea has more than doubled since 2001, with 150 ships a day passing through the Turkish Straits, including an average of 25 oil tankers per day.

A terrorist attack against shipping or port facilities “would directly threaten the interests and economic security of the United States, and of all the nations which use the energy from the region,” Beyrle said.

Aside from terrorist threats, the Black Sea is also “a potential avenue for other kinds of global threats,” he said. These threats include illegal migration and human trafficking, as well as smuggling of drugs and weapons. “The United States and all democratic nations have an interest in controlling this traffic,” Beyrle said.

The potential bases in Bulgaria and Romania are part of a larger reorganization of U.S. forces overseas known as the Military Global Posture Review. In August 2004, President Bush announced that as many as 70,000 U.S. troops stationed overseas would be relocated to bases within the United States. U.S. military presence would be maintained and even expanded overseas by rotating troops for temporary duty at numerous bases around the world.

The U.S. European Command, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, plans to trim its military presence from 112,000 troops to about 68,500 over the next several years. Those forces remaining in Europe will focus on being able swiftly to deploy to temporary locations in the Balkans and southeast Europe, Eurasia and Africa.

Beyrle’s full remarks are available on the Web site of the U.S. Embassy in Sofia.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)