Petkov Says Bulgaria Hasn't Discussed NATO Troop Deployment, Calls For More Diplomacy

SOFIA – Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Kiril Petkov says his government has neither discussed nor taken any decision on an eventual deployment of NATO troops in the Black Sea country as a response to Russia's troop buildup near the border with Ukraine.

Petkov made the comments on December 22, a day after Defense Minister Stefan Yanev said that the deployment of additional troops to NATO and EU member Bulgaria “would not match” the interests of his country or its allies.

“That topic has neither been discussed at the Council of Ministers, nor with any of our [NATO] partners,” Petkov told reporters.

“The defense minister has his own personal opinion, which is in no way the formal position of our government,” he added.

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The comments come amid intelligence reports that Russia has amassed about 100,000 combat-ready troops near its eastern border with Ukraine in what the United States has said could be a prelude to an invasion as early as next month.

Russia denies it is planning to attack, claiming instead that Ukraine and NATO are provoking tensions. Moscow is demanding security guarantees against NATO’s expansion to Ukraine, which is not a member of the alliance.

Regarding the possible deployment of NATO troops in Bulgaria, Petkov said his country is and will remain “an active member of the European Union and NATO, and such types of decisions will be coordinated.”

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Amid fears of a possible invasion, Ukrainian officials say more than 90,000 Russian troops have been deployed along its border -- including on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized by force from Ukraine in 2014. Maxar Technologies, a satellite-imaging company, has released photographs that show the Russian troop buildup.

The prime minister also called for "maximum use of diplomatic and peaceful means" regarding the security of the EU and NATO’s eastern flank.

In a Facebook post on December 21, Yanev said that "various options for response” were being discussed within NATO, including building up the alliance’s presence in Bulgaria and neighboring Romania as part of the alliance’s Enhanced Forward Presence strategy.

“At this stage, [the discussions] are at the level of military-technical discussion and no final decision has been made,” Yanev said.

The defense minister added, though, that “my position is that such [an approach] has the potential to lead to an undesirable increase in tensions in the region.”

The Russian Embassy in Sofia quickly shared Yanev's post without making any comment.

Bulgaria, a former Warsaw Pact member, joined NATO in 2004.