Bulgaria

Bulgaria is a southeastern European country with a population of 7.6 million and capital city of Sofia. It is a member of NATO and the European Union. In order to join the EU, the country had to shut down four of its six reactors in its Kozloduy nuclear power plant because of safety concerns. The EU continues to pressure Bulgaria to shut down two other reactors at the plant. However, the BBC states that "in a bid to offset the loss of production at Kozloduy and restore its position as a major power exporter in the Balkans, Bulgaria has revived plans for a second nuclear power plant."

Media
The BBC says of the country's media:


 * In 2000 Balkan News Corporation - part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation - launched bTV, Bulgaria's first national commercial channel. In 2003 Nova TV was awarded the second national commercial TV licence. Freedom of the press is guaranteed under the constitution.

U.S. military bases in Bulgaria
In February 2008, Bulgaria and the U.S. signed agreements allowing the U.S. military to have four bases in the country. Morningstar/DowJones reports, "The bases concerned are the Novo Selo training area near Sliven in eastern Bulgaria, the air bases of Bezmer near Yambol in the southeast and Graf Ignatievo in the south, as well as a storage site near Aitos in the east." The first U.S. soldiers are to arrive in October 2008.

In December 2005, neighboring Romania signed an agreement with the U.S. for four new military bases. The Turkish Weekly reported, "Over the past four years, the United States has been trying to reconstruct its military bases and facilities abroad, according to the so-called general defense plan (GDP). The US government is closing redundant bases and exerting great efforts to build new ones. It is even making long-term military deals with several countries."

Leaders

 * Sergei Stanishev, Prime minister. A coalition of the Socialist Party and liberal Movement for Simeon II (NMS) is in power
 * Georgi Parvanov, President, largely a ceremonial role

Former:
 * Philip Dimitrov, Prime Minister (1991-1992)

Related SourceWatch articles

 * U.S. military bases overseas

External articles

 * Sam Baker, "Why All the Foreign Bases?", LewRockwell.com, March 17, 2006.

External resources

 * Bulgaria, National Geographic, accessed March 2008.
 * Timeline: Bulgaria, BBC, accessed March 2008.