Bulgaria will not be hosting elements of the US and NATO missile defense system in Europe, at least for the time being, Defense Minister Anyu Angelov announced.

"The only certain Bulgarian participation in the creation of the NATO missile shield in Europe is our proportional share in its funding. No specific talks have been held for anything more than that even though Bulgaria has declared its readiness," Gen. Angelov said.

His comment comes shortly after the United States and Romania jointly selected the Deveselu Air Base near Caracal, Romania, to host a US Ballistic Missile Defense System, according to an official announcement of the US State Department.

The announcement, published Tuesday, informs that the System employs the SM-3 interceptor (also referred to as the "Aegis Ashore System") while the deployment to Romania is anticipated to occur in the 2015 timeframe as part of the second phase of the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA) – the US national contribution to a NATO missile defense architecture.

The announcement for the stationing of the US interceptor missiles in Southern Romania as part of the NATO/US missile defense system in Europe was expected. The bigger question was what location will be selected for the radar that is supposed to detect missiles fired at European territory.

Bulgaria and Turkey have been mentioned as the most likely locations of the radar; while officials and media reports mentioned Bulgaria more often in the spring of 2010, Turkey started to figure more prominently in the second half of last year.

The original missile defense in Europe plan of George W. Bush administration provided for stationing interceptors in Poland and the radar station in the Czech Republic. The modification of the plan by the Obama Administration switched it to sea-borne missiles and, later on, locations in southeastern Europe. Initially, there were reports and expectations that Romania and Bulgaria will replace Poland and the Czech Republic, respectively.

During its summit in November 2010 in Lisbon, NATO agreed to adopt the previously purely US missile shield project as its own. The summit did cast some serious doubts over Turkey's participation in the missile defense system because it insisted that its Muslim neighbor Iran should not be mentioned as a source of threat in the respective documents, and eventually prevailed.

The newly announced US Ballistic Missile Defense site in Romania is approximately 430 acres (175 hectares) and is located within the existing Romanian Air Base at Deveselu.

Deveselu is about 50 kilometers away from the Romanian-Bulgarian border. The closest Bulgarian location is the village of Zagrazhden between the towns of Oryahovo and Nikopol.

According to the US State Department, an estimated 200 military, government civilians, and support contractors will be required to operate the US facility at the site, but Romanian President, Traian Basescu, in his own TV announcement, said the number could reach 500.

"The Ballistic Missile Defense System is not aimed at Russia," Basescu stressed.

A year ago, US Undersecretary of State Ellen Tauscher, declared that the United States has not asked Bulgaria to locate elements of the missile defense in Europe on its territory.

Bulgarian President, Georgi Parvanov, recently stated the country must become part of NATO missile defense, but the public will have to be informed with precision and detail. In a rare move, Defense Minister, Anyu Angelov, joined the President in this opinion.

The EPAA will provide protection of NATO European territories and populations, and augment protection of the United States, against the increasing threats posed by the proliferation of ballistic missiles from the Middle East, the US State Department points out.

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