US, Bulgaria to hold Balkans military drills amid Ukraine crisis
RT.com
March 13, 2015
NATO members Bulgaria and the US will hold a series of joint military drills in the course of the next three and a half months, following recent naval drills in the Black Sea and the shipment of over 100 US armored vehicles to Latvia.
About 350 US army officers, as well as US tanks, helicopters and armored personnel carriers will arrive in the Balkan country for the bilateral drills, the Bulgarian Defense Ministry said Friday, Reuters reported.
The drills are to begin Sunday and will be conducted at the Novo Selo training range in southeastern Bulgaria, with about $30 million spent by the US for the modernization of Bulgaria’s military infrastructure, according to Defense Minister Nikolay Nenchev.
“The Bulgarian Army will use the drills to test its ability to react in crisis situations,” a Defense Ministry official said. “Of course, we cannot underestimate what is happening in Ukraine.”
The Bulgarian Armed Forces are also set to participate in a couple of annual drills to be held in Ukraine in July – the Rapid Trident and Saber Guardian military exercises, the ministry said.
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