Top NATO Transformation official visits Bulgaria

10/03/2006

SOFIA, Bulgaria -- General Lance L. Smith, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, Transformation and Commander of the US Joint Forces Command, kicked off a two-day visit to Bulgaria Friday (10 March). Issues related to co-operation between the Bulgarian military and the NATO Transformation Command will dominate the agenda.

In other news, Mark Pekala, US deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, visited Romania on Wednesday and Bulgaria on Thursday. His meetings with government officials focused mostly on establishing US military bases on the territories of the two NATO member states, and on security in the Black Sea region and the Western Balkans. (BNR - 10/03/06; Bulgarian Government Web site, Nine o'clock - 09/03/06)