US aircraft will not arrive today, defence minister says

The US aircraft will not arrive today and are now expected to arrive next week, Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov told reporters on Friday, the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) reported.

Stoyanov and Sports Minister Encho Keryazov met with mayors from the Yambol region to discuss the planned deployment of up to eight Boeing KC-135 aerial refuelling aircraft and up to 250 US military personnel at the Bezmer Air Base.

The meeting came a day after local mayors submitted a petition opposing the deployment. Stoyanov said he had not come to persuade them, but to provide the information they needed and to "allay fears that are, to a large extent, unnecessary."

Meanwhile, 3,250 residents from 26 villages in the Tundzha municipality have signed a separate petition against the deployment of the US aircraft, BNR correspondent Daniela Kostova reported. A protest is scheduled to take place outside Bezmer Air Base later on Friday.

• Residents to protest planned U.S. military presence at Bezmer Air Base
  

Editor: Miglena Ivanova