site.btaBulgarian Parliament Ratifies MoU with Turkiye on Cross-Border Air Policing

Bulgaria's National Assembly Thursday voted, 123-49 with one abstention, to ratify a Memorandum of Understanding between the governments of Bulgaria and Turkiye on cross-border air policing operations. 

Under the document, signed in Ankara on February 21, 2024, Bulgaria should notify Turkiye of the implementation of the national procedures for the entry into force of the Memorandum.

The reasons to the ratifying bill defines air policing is a peacetime activity to guard airspace within NATO's Integrated Air and Missile Defence System. Member countries should address, through bilateral agreements, the conduct of cross-border air policing operations with regard to their sovereign rights, such as guarding the national territory and authorizing Allied armed forces to operate in that territory.

The Memorandum lays down the basic principles, procedures, and conditions for the conduct of cross-border air policing operations. One of the guiding principles for carrying out these operations is respect for the national sovereignty of both countries.

Bulgarian Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov said that the Bulgarian Air Force are on standby for the implementation of air policing operations, using fighter aircraft in peacetime to ensure the inviolability of the assigned airspace.