VZCZCXRO2625
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHSF #0167/01 0320718
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 010718Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY SOFIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1351
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEPGDA/USEUCOM JIC VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SOFIA 000167 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR PM/SNA, EUR/NB, PM/B 
DEFENSE FOR OSD/PA&E, OASD/PA&E, OASD/ISA/EUR, OASD/ISA/NP, 
OASD/ISA/AP, OASD/ISA/NESA, OASD/ISA/BTF 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: MCAP NATO PREL BU
SUBJECT: BULGARIA 2005/2006 ALLIED CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE 
COMMON DEFENSE 
 
REF: 05 STATE 223383 
 
SOFIA 00000167  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (U) General Assessment.  Since joining NATO in April 2004, 
Bulgaria has maintained its defense spending at 2.6% of GDP 
and made substantial troop contributions to overseas 
missions.  Following national elections in June 2005, the 
incumbent National Movement for Simeon the Second (NMSS) was 
forced to share power in a multi-party coalition led by the 
Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).  Despite the change in 
government, the BSP-led coalition has maintained Bulgaria's 
support for troop contributions to NATO and non-NATO missions. 
 
ISAF: The current Bulgarian contingent consists of 74 
military personnel.  In August 2006, Bulgarian forces will 
assume operational responsibility for Kabul International 
Airport bringing their total contribution to approximately 
150 soldiers.  In addition, Bulgarian Brigadier General Neyko 
Nenov will lead a 140-soldier contingent from the 
South-Eastern Europe Brigade (SEEBRIG) on a six-month 
deployment to Afghanistan beginning in early 2006.  The 
SEEBRIG unit will include 30 Bulgarian soldiers. 
 
KFOR: One infantry company (approximately 50 soldiers) has 
been assigned to KFOR since February 2000. 
 
NTM-I: Two officers participate as instructors. 
 
EUFOR: One engineering platoon (approximately 35 soldiers) 
has been assigned to EUFOR, previously SFOR, since July 1997. 
 
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF): Bulgaria maintained a 480-man 
battalion in Iraq from August 2003 to December 2005.  During 
this period, the contingent suffered 13 killed and 80 
wounded.  In addition, six Bulgarian contract personnel were 
killed during this period. 
 
¶2. (U) Important Developments.  Following a May 2005 decision 
in Parliament to withdraw its troops from Iraq by year's end, 
the battalion in Iraq returned to Bulgaria in January 2006. 
Parliament's decision also expressed Bulgaria's intention to 
remain a Coalition member, and the government is poised to 
approve a new, smaller mission in Iraq in 2006. 
 
¶3. (U) The cornerstone of Bulgaria's military modernization 
and reform effort is the Strategic Defense Review (SDR) which 
the MOD and General Staff completed in 2004.  The SDR is 
based on the premise that Bulgaria faces new asymmetrical 
security threats rather than traditional threats to its 
national territory.  In 2004, Parliament approved the SDR and 
the associated Long-Term Plan for the Development of the 
Armed Forces up to 2105 (Plan 2015).  Together they provide a 
vision and a multi-year plan for developing improved NATO 
standardization and interoperability, essential for alliance 
operations abroad, within an annual defense budget of roughly 
$700 million.  Bulgaria is deactivating unnecessary units 
optimized for the defense of national territory, reducing 
personnel strength from 45,000 to 39,000, and establishing a 
joint operations command to deal with internal and external 
military operations. The SDR also stresses the need for 
lighter units and special operations forces.  It identifies 
eleven priority equipment modernization projects: 
 
- New Ground Vehicles 
- New Helicopters 
- New Multi-Role Fighters 
- New Corvettes 
- New Transport Aircraft 
- Coastal Radiolocation System 
- Purchase and Modernization of Used Warships 
- Personal Equipment for Soldiers 
- Communication and Information Capabilities 
- Destruction of Excess Ammunition 
- Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Detection Equipment 
 
In the fall of 2005, the GOB approved purchases for three of 
the eleven projects: 
 
- New helicopters from Eurocopter 
- New ground transportation vehicles from Daimler-Chrysler 
- New transport aircraft from Alenia Tactical Transportation 
Systems 
 
Progress on these three projects marks the first steps in a 
series of procurements to achieve the SDR's equipment 
modernization goals. 
 
SOFIA 00000167  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶4. (U) As part of the SDR, Bulgaria is undertaking a 
multi-year effort to professionalize the armed forces, 
improve English language skills, and develop a core of career 
non-commissioned officers with the technical knowledge and 
leadership skills to take on many of the functions that have 
been performed by commissioned officers in the past. 
Bulgaria is also striving to reform its acquisition system, 
improve logistics and personnel management systems, and 
modernize its command and control architecture.  These shifts 
in organizational culture are as important as equipment 
modernization programs to make Bulgaria an even more 
effective military ally. 
 
¶5. (U) In May 2005, a U.S interagency team began negotiations 
with the GOB on the use of several existing Bulgarian 
military facilities by U.S. forces as part of the Global 
Defense Posture Review.  These ongoing negotiations are 
focused on developing a combined supplemental status of 
forces agreement and defense cooperation agreement that would 
allow the U.S. to use the Novo Selo training area, Bezmer 
Airfield, and possibly Graf Ignatievo Airfield.  If an 
agreement is signed on these shared military facilities, 
enhanced military-to-military relationships and additional 
bilateral training exercises would further support Bulgarian 
military's SDR reform goals.  It would also provide U.S. 
forces with rotational training opportunities in Bulgaria. 
 
¶6. (U) Political/Economic Factors Affecting Defense 
Capabilities.  The primary obstacle to enhancing Bulgaria's 
defense capabilities is financial.  The average Bulgarian 
earns approximately $200 per month, and the government is 
struggling to improve social services and raise the standard 
of living.  This, combined with significant reconstruction 
costs from severe flooding in 2005, has strained the national 
budget.  Sustaining Bulgaria's overseas deployments, 
including the battalion in Iraq, cost $33 million in 2004 and 
$75 million in 2005.  The expenses for participation in OIF 
were not planned in the 2003 and 2004 defense budgets and 
were taken out of funds originally intended for training and 
modernization.  This led to some delays in implementing NATO 
force goals.  Despite the financial challenges, Bulgaria has 
maintained defense spending at 2.6% of GDP for 2006. 
Bulgaria continues to work on developing their NATO niche 
capabilities: military police, engineering, NBC, and field 
medical services.  The military police have recently acquired 
new vehicles and security equipment, and they are scheduled 
to receive new night vision devices and thermal imaging 
equipment. 
 
¶7. (U) Military Assistance.  Bulgaria has made three separate 
donations of arms and ammunition to the Afghan National Army 
worth approximately $5 million. 
 
¶8. (U) Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Relief Operations.  At 
the Madrid international donor conference, Bulgaria pledged 
$1 million in in-kind humanitarian support to Iraq.  In 
December 2003, Bulgaria delivered humanitarian supplies worth 
$500,000.  In July 2004, it delivered medicine and medical 
supplies worth $30,000.  Bulgaria plans to provide the rest 
of the in-kind support by training Iraqi police forces in 
Bulgaria and providing scholarships for 20 Iraqi students to 
attend master's degree programs in Bulgaria beginning in 
¶2006.  In Afghanistan ten medics are stationed at a hospital 
in Herat as part of the Spanish-led provincial reconstruction 
team.  Bulgaria donated 59 tons of power cables to the Afghan 
electric power sector worth $145,000.  Following the 
earthquake in northern Pakistan in October 2005, Bulgaria 
contributed one plane-load of tents and blankets. 
 
¶9. (U) Counter Proliferation Contributions.  Bulgaria is a 
member of every major international regime for the control of 
arms, dual-use technology, and weapons of mass destruction 
including the MTCR, NPT, CBW, Australia Group, NSG, and the 
Wassenaar Arrangement.  Bulgaria works closely with the U.S. 
on issues of export control and nonproliferation. 
 
¶10. (U) Direct Cost Sharing.  Not applicable.  There are no 
U.S. forces stationed in Bulgaria. 
 
¶11. (U) Indirect Cost Sharing.  Not applicable.  There are no 
U.S. forces stationed in Bulgaria. 
 
¶12. (U) Point of Contact for this report is John Bergemann, 
Political Officer, 359-2-937-5276 (Tel), 
 
SOFIA 00000167  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
BergemannJC@state.gov (Email). 
Beyrle