Bulgaria said Friday it will terminate at the end of next month the authorisation for US military refuelling planes to be based at Sofia airport amidst a visa dispute between the NATO allies.Bulgarians are among the last European Union nationals not to have visa-free entry for tourist visits to the United States.
US KC-135 Stratotanker jets have been based at Sofia since mid-February, just ahead of the US-Israeli attacks on Iran, and in mid-May six were still present at the Bulgarian capital's airport.
The permission, given as part of NATO cooperation, originally ran until the end of May. Prime Minister Rumen Radev, who spoke with US President Donald Trump last week, said he had extended the measure for one month to give the US military time to find an alternative.
The government acknowledged in April that it had received a diplomatic protest note from Iran over the presence of the planes.
Radev was asked Friday whether he had raised the visa issue with Trump and said "I don't have a positive response at this stage".
