Bulgarian and U.S. diplomats on Thursday launched talks on deploying American troops on several Bulgarian military sites as part of a Pentagon plan to create new, flexible bases in Eastern Europe, AP reported. «We are talking about periodic rotation of American forces through Bulgaria to work with Bulgarian forces ... on building our common ability to meet any of the new threats that might arise in the future,» said Robert G. Loftis, a senior adviser at the U.S. Department of State and the head of the U.S. negotiating team. «We are talking about people coming here temporarily to use these facilities together with our Bulgarian allies,» he told reporters before the start of the talks. Loftis said it was too early to say where the U.S. troops would be based, but Bulgarian officials have said the U.S. would use three military sites. The commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Europe, Gen. James Jones, visited three of the possible locations earlier this year _ the Bezmer airbase and the Novo Selo training area in southeastern Bulgaria, and the Black Sea port of Burgas.
