site.btaParliament Ratifies Memorandum of Understanding with Romania on the Establishment of Regional Special Operations Command Headquarters

Parliament ratified on Thursday a Memorandum of Understanding between Bulgaria's Ministry of Defence and Romania's Ministry of National Defence regarding the setting up of a Regional Special Operations Component Command Headquarters (HQR-SOCC). 118 MPs voted in favour, 38 against and four abstained.

The two countries signed the Memorandum during the NATO Summit in Washington, D.C., on July 10, 2024. "The Regional Headquarters can go into operation as early as the beginning of 2025," caretaker Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov said then. The initiative is part of the evolution of NATO's command and control system and will rotate between the two countries once every two years. Zapryanov said that this joint command is very important for both peacetime and wartime.

Under the Memorandum, the headquarters will be a temporary deployable command element and will be activated according to the two countries' national procedures and in accordance with the established mechanisms of the Alliance for participation in Allied operations or upon activation of NATO's defence plans, as well as for participation in bilateral and multilateral exercises and training events, the reasons to the bill says.

The Regional Special Operations Component Command Headquarters will be capable of commanding and controlling multinational special operations forces (SOF) and NATO operations support and conduct forces.

Caretaker Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov told Parliament that it does not require additional infrastructure or investments. In peacetime it will be used for training and in wartime it will perform collective defence functions.

Defence chief Admiral Emil Eftimov was also present at the vote.