Bulgaria will conduct policing of its airspace jointly with the United States for a week next month, Defense Minister Nikolay Nenchev has announced.

"The government has adopted a decision today on joint air policing, joint protection of our airspace with the U.S. The mission will start on September 9 and will complete on September 16,” Nenchev told reporters after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

The joint air policing will involve two U.S. aircraft, Nenchev said.

Bulgaria wouldn’t have to pay for the U.S. participation in the mission, Nenchev added.

Former Air Force Commander Maj Gen Rumen Radev, who resigned earlier this month, has firmly opposed the idea that Bulgaria must pay for the costs incurred by a NATO partner country in a joint air policing mission in Bulgaria.

The option of signing a deal with Poland for joint policing of Bulgaria’s air space remains and further talks will be held in this direction, Nenchev said.