WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th November, 2019) Bulgaria wants to enhance cooperation with the US military in the Black Sea due to fears of warming relations between Moscow and Ankara, analysts and former diplomats told Sputnik.
Earlier this week, after talks at the White House, US President Donald Trump and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov announced that the two countries were pursuing additional defense technology and industry partnerships and will devise a ten-year road map for cooperation in the Black Sea region. The statement also said Bulgaria offered to host a NATO Black Sea coordination center in Varna.
Although Bulgaria joined NATO in 2004, historically it has never been a major US ally in the Balkans. However, some experts believe recent major strategic realignments in the Black Sea have altered Washington's calculus.
Meanwhile, Russia and Turkey have boosted relations in recent years, evidenced by Ankara procuring Russian air defense systems despite Trump administration objections.
Moreover, Russia and Turkey in recent weeks have cooperated more closely on stabilizing northern Syria just after Trump announced the withdrawal of US troops.
Historian and former US Army Colonel Doug Macgregor told Sputnik that these strategic shifts have left Washington and Sofia both feeling increasingly isolated and looking for reassurances and new partners in the region.
"Given Turkey's warming relations with Russia, Sofia and Washington may see each other as regional strategic partners of last resort," Macgregor said.
Historically, Russia has aided Bulgaria in its fight for independence from Turkish dominance, Macgregor recalled, but recent developments in the middle East have Sofia concerned.
"The Ankara-Moscow axis leaves Bulgaria without a strong, reliable ally," he said.
Borissov's willingness to deepen his country's dependence on the United States reflected these insecurities, Macgregor explained.
"Only a change in Moscow's policy stance vis-a-vis Ankara will ameliorate these fears in Sofia," he said.
The leaders of the United States and Bulgaria during this week's talks stressed the need to specifically advance cooperation to counter maritime, cyber and hybrid threats in the Black Sea region.
Former intelligence officials have warned that the United States may also try to use its new defense arrangements with Bulgaria for employing advanced technologies to spy on Russia.
Former Canadian diplomat Patrick Armstrong told Sputnik that the United States might be trying to build a network in the Black Sea to counter Russian economic and trade interests - in a framework akin to the blue dot "scheme" that Washington has established in the Asia-Pacific.
The "blue dot network" is an alliance between the United States, Australia and Japan focused on financial and infrastructure projects. Many believe the alliance is designed to counter China's economic dominance in the region.
However, relying on Bulgaria as a regional base would not compensate for the increasing alienation of Turkey, a far larger and more powerful nation and an important NATO member since 1952, Armstrong cautioned
In short, the new US-Bulgarian actions are "too little too late, a day late and a Dollar short," Armstrong said.
Prospects for the new US-Bulgaria relationship also looked bleak in the face of the ever more confused and chaotic nature of American policy-making on national security and global strategic issues, which were undermining American credibility around the world, Armstrong warned.
"The ship's going down, nobody cares about next week's menu," he concluded.
