The foreign ministers of Bulgaria and Romania said they would welcome bases for US troops once they became full members of Nato. The two countries were among seven from eastern Europe unanimously approved for membership of the Atlantic alliance by the US Senate on Thursday. Gen James Jones, the new head of American troops in Europe, is in the process of re-evaluating the US's "footprint" in the region, and is expected to recommend that many of the 80,000 troops based in Germany be moved eastwards. Pentagon insiders have said that Bulgaria and Romania, with their ports on the Black Sea that were used during the Iraq war, are leading contenders.
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