Voice of America news, The commander of U.S. forces in Europe, General James Jones, says the United States is ready to begin negotiations with new NATO members Romania and Bulgaria about basing U.S. forces in those countries.
General Jones told a House of Representatives committee Wednesday that officers under his command have made repeated visits to Romania and Bulgaria, and the time has come to begin formal talks on basing U.S. forces in those countries. “We are definitely at the launching point, as opposed to the conceptual point,” he said.
General Jones says the possibility of basing U.S. forces in Romania and Bulgaria fits into the Defense Department's plans re-structure its force deployment around the world. The plan is to move away from large bases far from potential conflict zones, to smaller bases closer to where the forces might be used.
“We're very excited at the possibility, in the European transformation, of basing an Eastern European brigade, a rotational brigade, in Bulgaria and Romania, along with the accompanying air assets and logistical assets necessary to sustain that presence,” he added.
A brigade would be between 3,000-5,000 troops, plus supporting units.
General Jones, who is also the NATO supreme commander, says talks with the two new NATO members should begin soon on details of the basing arrangements, which he said could include ports, airfields and facilities for ground forces.
“I believe that this year we will now turn to dialogue with both nations to work out the basing agreements, the status-of-forces agreements, and the most important one is the access that the United States wishes to have to its forces,
