Trump Praises Bulgaria After Parliament Approves US Air Base for Iran Operations

Trump thanks Prime Minister Radev after Bulgaria's Parliament votes 136-13 to let US refueling aircraft use Bezmer Air Base, defying Iranian threats.

First Published: July 24, 2026, 9:12 AM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald J. Trump praised Bulgaria after its Parliament voted to let U.S. military aircraft use a southeastern air base for operations against Iran, defying direct threats from Tehran.

The measure passed 136-13 with two abstentions, authorizing up to eight U.S. KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft and about 250 American personnel at the Bezmer Air Base from July 24 through Oct. 1, according to newsmax. The vote followed Iranian warnings that hosting American aircraft would make Bulgaria complicit in what Tehran called “aggression and war crimes,” according to newsmax.

“It is categorically out of the question for military operations in the Middle East to be conducted from Bulgarian territory,” Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said, explaining that the tanker aircraft would fly logistical refueling missions outside Bulgarian airspace, according to newsmax.

Here is the full post on truthsocial: “Thank you Prime Minister Radev! Bulgaria Backs Trump, Approves US Air Base Support Despite Iran Threats” on July 24, 2026 at 1:01 PM ET.

The approval hands the Trump administration a diplomatic win at a moment when several Western European allies have resisted requests to support U.S. operations in the widening conflict with Iran. France, Germany and Italy have expressed reluctance to become more directly involved, according to newsmax. Eastern European governments such as Poland and Bulgaria have aligned more closely with Washington. The split exposes a geopolitical divide inside the European Union over Trump’s Iran policy.

The decision carries clear winners and losers. The Trump administration gains a staging point for refueling flights and a demonstration that NATO’s eastern flank will stand firm under Iranian pressure. Bulgaria, one of only three European Union countries whose citizens still require visas to travel to the United States, has pressed Washington for visa waiver status without success, according to newsmax. Local officials near the Bezmer base warned the installation could become a target should hostilities widen.

Under the 2006 U.S.-Bulgaria Defense Cooperation Agreement, any new operational use of the joint facility requires parliamentary approval, according to newsmax. Bulgarian Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov told lawmakers the country secured guarantees from Washington to minimize risks and that no offensive weapons would sit at the base. “We requested and received guarantees from our strategic partner aimed at minimizing the risks to our national security,” Stoyanov said, according to newsmax.

For an American reader, the move signals that U.S. forces retain refueling access across NATO’s eastern edge, extending the reach of American aircraft in a conflict that could shape energy prices and troop deployments abroad.

This has happened before. Bulgaria and the United States have shared the Bezmer facility since the 2006 cooperation agreement, and Sofia has repeatedly weighed base access against its long-sought goal of visa-free travel to the United States, according to newsmax. The current vote marks the most direct authorization yet tied to operations against Iran.

The next decision rests with the Bulgarian government and Washington on whether to extend the deployment beyond its Oct. 1 expiration, and on whether the United States grants Bulgaria the visa waiver status it has requested. A date for either decision has not been announced.

Bulgaria’s balancing act between great powers echoes earlier chapters, as has happened before. During the Cold War, Bulgaria stood among the Soviet Union’s most loyal Warsaw Pact members, hosting Soviet forces and aligning tightly with Moscow for more than four decades, according to britannica. Communist rule collapsed in 1989. The country joined NATO in 2004 and the European Union in 2007, a pivot westward that placed a former Soviet ally at the center of American security planning in the Black Sea region.