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Want no part in "coalition of the willing" in Syria: Bulgarian defense minister

03 September 2013 02:52 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Bulgarian Defense Minister Angel Naydenov on Monday said his country would not participate in a "coalition of the willing" in Syria, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"Our country is highly reluctant about such an option," Naydenov said during the opening of a new academic year at the National Defense Academy.

Air strikes are the most probable military operation, and Bulgaria does not have the ability to directly participate in it, Naydenov said.

Bulgaria, a NATO member since 2004, has been participating in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force missions in Afghanistan since 2002, and also participated in operation Iraqi Freedom from 2003 to 2008.

U.S. military refueling aircraft were based in 2001 and 2003 at Bourgas, some 400km east of the Bulgarian capital Sofia, when they supported military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.