Balgarianovinite.com Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev discussed a waiver of US visas for Bulgaria and the deployment of US aircraft in Sofia during a telephone conversation on Tuesday with US President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Radev said at the start of the Cabinet’s weekly meeting Wednesday, quoted by the Government Information Service.
“In my conversation with the American President, I insistently raised the issue of lifting US visa requirements for Bulgarian citizens, and I expect this matter to be considered urgently,” Radev said.
With Hegseth, the Bulgarian head of government discussed US tanker aircraft deployed at Sofia Airport.
Radev said: “The US is our strategic partner and ally. The aircraft have been stationed there by permission granted by the Rosen Zhelyazkov Cabinet, which is valid until the end of May. I expect the US side to seek an extension of this period.”
It was in this context that the PM raised the issue of waiving US visas for Bulgarians, he specified.
On February 17, 2026, the US Embassy requested permission from the Zhelyazkov Government for the deployment of up to 15 aircraft at the Vasil Levski Sofia Airport for the period from February 17 to May 31, 2026, as well as for assistance in ensuring access for military personnel to the airport runway. The reasons given were related to the implementation of NATO enhanced vigilance activities. In accordance with the Act on Passage through and Presence within the Territory of the Republic of Bulgaria of Allied and of Foreign Armed Forces, the Minister of Defence granted the requested permission. During a parliamentary hearing on February 26, caretaker Foreign Minister Nadezhda Neynsky said that the deployment of US military aircraft at the airport was not related to “current or planned military operations.”
In a Fox News interview on May 14, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned four countries that “were very helpful” to the US in its war in Iran: Portugal, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania. He did not elaborate on how exactly these countries helped the US, adding only that Portugal “said yes before we even told them what the question was.”
The visa waiver issue has been outstanding for years, but the US requires that Bulgaria should meet the technical requirements before it comes up for consideration. The most important requirement is a tourist visa refusal rate not exceeding 3%. In recent years, Bulgaria has been closing in on that target, and the Foreign Ministry has carried out an awareness raising campaign for visa applicants in a bid to speed up progress. In 2025, Bulgaria recorded the lowest refusal rate for US tourist and business visas in the past two decades, at 5.11%. PM Radev Discusses US Visa Waiver, US Aircraft in Sofia by Phone with President Trump, Secretary Hegseth 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-05-20 09:38:00 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law