BULGARIA EXTENDS IRAQ MISSION; 20 MORE TROOPS FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SOFIA 001371

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/11/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL MARR BU
SUBJECT: BULGARIA EXTENDS IRAQ MISSION; 20 MORE TROOPS FOR
AFGHANISTAN AND 2 OBSERVERS TO CHAD

Classified By: AMB Beyrle for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary. The Bulgarian Council of Ministers voted
December 12 to extend the Bulgarian mission in Iraq until
April 1, 2009 and to send an additional 20 soldiers to
Afghanistan to strengthen its contingent currently guarding
the perimeter at Kandahar Airfield. The deployment of two
military observers to the EU mission in Chad was also
approved as part of a raft of defense-related decisions. The
additional troops for Afghanistan had been expected for many
weeks now, but this increase does not include an estimated 50
additional troops required to take over responsibility for
the Entry Control Point at Kandahar Airfield. FM Kalfin's
visit to Washington in January will help define and
accelerate a Bulgarian decision on this issue and a U.S.
request for additional Bulgarian military engineers for Iraq.
End Summary.


2. (C) Bulgaria currently has 154 soldiers serving in Iraq
at Camp Ashraf. Since March 2006, these forces have been
responsible for overseeing Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) defectors
within the camp's Temporary Interview and Protection
Facility. The Council of Minister's decision to extend this
mission still requires Parliamentary approval, but this will
be a formality once a new UNSCR on Iraq has been approved.
The Bulgarian decision on Ashraf does not address a U.S.
request for Bulgaria to provide an additional 40 or so
military engineers to aid in construction projects on U.S.
bases in Iraq. The Ministry of Defense has insisted that
this proposal cannot move forward until a new UNSCR is
completed and will not guarantee that it will be approved
even once a new UNSCR is in place. The sticking point is not
Parliament per se, but opposition within the Bulgarian
Socialist Party and how that plays out within the Council of
Ministers.


3. (C) In Afghanistan, approximately 200 Bulgarian soldiers
currently guard the perimeter of Kandahar Airfield. The
Council of Minister's decision to send an additional 20
soldiers to beef up its contingent stems from President
Parvanov's visit to Kandahar in October 2007, when the troops
personally requested reinforcements to ease staffing
constraints. This increase does not address a U.S. request
for Bulgaria to take over responsibility for the Entry
Control Point (ECP) to Kandahar Airfield, a mission which the
MOD determined would require an additional 50 soldiers (over
and above the 20 recently approved.) Ambassador Beyrle
discussed this request in separate discussions December 7
with the Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister. The Prime
Minister said he had not been adequately briefed by the
Ministry of Defense on the ECP mission and that he had
requested the matter be presented for the Council of
Minister's decision in January.


4. (C) The December 12 Council of Ministers also approved
the deployment of two military observers to join the EU
mission in Chad. Bulgaria currently has seven military
observers posted in Kosovo, Liberia and Ethiopia.


5. (C) Comment: The Council of Ministers decisions on
Ashraf and Kandahar are welcome news and demonstrate
Bulgaria's continued commitment to overseas operations and
its desire to be seen as a reliable partner in international
security. The ruling coalition continues, overall, to
support engagement in these theaters despite strong public
opinion against them and increasing pressure to divert scarce
government resources to domestic issues. However, the
Bulgarians have yet to reach internal consensus on our
requests for engineers for Iraq and 50 additional troops for
Afghanistan. In addition to political calculations, a major
overhaul of Bulgaria's force structure and military
modernization plan is also unresolved. We are engaging the
government at all levels to ensure it does not lose its nerve
on these tougher issues. FM Kalfin's January meetings in
Washington will help define and accelerate a Bulgarian
decision. End Comment.
Beyrle