BULGARIA 2005/2006 ALLIED CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE

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