ref:topbtw-4424.html - 31 Gennaio 2026
Bulgaria's Parliament ratifies agreement with Italy on joint construction, use of Kabile military facility.
Bulgaria's National Assembly ratified on January 29 an agreement between the governments of Bulgaria and Italy for the joint construction
and use of a military base near the Yambol village of Kabile - similar to the Bulgarian-American joint facility built at the Novo Selo training range.
As The Sofia Globe reported previously, the draft agreement was approved by the Cabinet in August 2025 and signed
by Bulgarian Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov and his Italian counterpart Guido Crosetto on December 23.
The new base will house the Nato multinational battle group stationed in Bulgaria, and is expected to have the capacity
to accommodate a brigade and even an entire division.
The ratification was supported by all parliamentary groups except minority pro-Russian party Vuzrazhdane and the National Assembly's two
smallest groups, nationalist-populist parties Mech and Velichie.
It was debated and voted on at both readings at a single sitting, following a proposal by Hristo Gadzhev, the GERB-UDF MP who chairs
the parliamentary committee on defence.
The Cabinet, which tabled the bill, said that the construction of military facilities on the territory of
the Kabile military district is a strategic step to strengthen the defence capability of Bulgaria and Nato.
"This will provide the necessary infrastructure for the deployment and support of the multinational battle group,
as well as the possibility of its expansion," the Cabinet said.
The signed contract provides for responsibility for Italy for the assembly and deployment of residential buildings, offices, facilities,
household amenities, as well as for related services, and the opportunity to undertake the necessary construction work for these purposes,
including with its armed forces.
Parliament also voted to adopt an investment expenditure project, tabled by the Cabinet, for the acquisition of coastal anti-ship missile
systems for the Bulgarian Navy.
A total of 128 MPs voted for, 35 - from Vuzrazhdane and Velichie - voted against and nine from Mech abstained.
The cost of the anti-ship missile system project is close to $206 million.
Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov told Parliament that the acquisition is imperative, because Bulgaria has two coastal
defence systems, one scrapped, and the other a Soviet-era one that should be decommissioned by 2029/30.
( Gi.Com. - Sofia Globe )
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