SOFIA, May 5: In a new setback to the United States and its dwindling band of allies in Iraq, Bulgaria’s outgoing parliament on Thursday voted to pull all Bulgarian troops from that country by the end of the year, with some to leave as early as next month. The decision was adopted after heated debate, with 110 votes for and 53 against and 45 MPs abstaining.
Coming just days after the country suffered its 10th military fatality in Iraq, it provides for a reduction of Bulgaria’s 462-strong contingent to 400 men in June, followed by a full withdrawal by December 31. Defence Minister Nikolai Svinarov, who drafted the proposal for a withdrawal, on Thursday denied that Bulgaria was abandoning its allies in Iraq.
“This decision does not mean that Bulgaria is leaving the coalition. Negotiations about new forms of participation are under way,” he said, adding that the country could help to train troops in Iraq and rebuild the country.
The current Bulgarian parliament’s mandate expires in two weeks, and the decision could be reviewed by the new legislature following general elections on June 25.
But it seems unlikely it will be reversed as opinion polls show that the Bulgarian Socialist Party enjoys the support of most voters.
The party has vowed to withdraw the troops from Iraq immediately if it were to win the elections, and on Thursday, in a counter proposal to the government’s, called for a full pullout by May 31.
The deployment in Iraq has been hugely unpopular with the Bulgarian public, with a recent opinion poll showing that some 70 per cent of people wanted the troops withdrawn.
The centre-right government of Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg has been under pressure from the opposition and the press to do so for than a year.
But on Thursday the Socialists said the government’s move to take a decision on the matter now was mere “populism” with an eye to the elections next month.
The public outcry began in December 2003 when seven Bulgarian soldiers were killed in attacks by insurgents.
In March this year another died in a “friendly fire” incident involving US troops, which stirred tension with Washington.—AFP
