Investigation starts into invasion of US soldiers in workshop near Bulgaria's Cheshnegirovo

Bulgaria's Ministry of Defense and the Prosecutor's Office have launched an investigation into the incident near Cheshnegirovo in the region of Plovdiv, in which US military, mistakenly, stormed a production workshop during a NATO military exercise.

The incident happened on May 11, but the US embassy said it only learned about the incident yesterday. The diplomatic mission apologized for the incident and promised to co-operate in the investigation.

The owner of the workshop, Marin Dimitrov, told BNR-Radio Plovdiv that his seven workers continue to feel stressed by the invasion of the soldiers and that he intends to seek his rights in court.

Later today, the caretaker Minister of Defence, Georgi Panayotov, gave a briefing at which he stated that no violence had been used by the military in Cheshnegirovo - they had ordered the workers in the workshop only to sit down.

Cheshnegirovo air base is located near Bulgaria's village of Cheshnegirovo. /BGNES