Bulgaria starts deploying military personnel from nine countries for their participation in NATO exercises
Bulgaria is going to host military personnel from nine countries of the Northern Atlantic Alliance participating in the Steadfast Dart exercises, which will be held in Romania, Bulgaria and Greece from January 13th to February 26th, TASS reports
According to the Bulgarian Defence Ministry, starting from January 12th, military vehicles will pass along the country's roads to the venue of the exercises. "The deployment of allied forces from France, Italy, Spain, Slovenia, Turkiye, and the United Kingdom as part of the exercises will take place from early January to early February 2025 in Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania. In this regard, from January 12th to February 9th, participants in exercises with personal weapons, ammunition and military equipment will pass through the country’s territory: up to 100 soldiers and up to 290 combat and transport vehicles from Spain, up to 200 soldiers and up to 90 combat and transport vehicles from Italy, up to 50 soldiers and up to 25 combat and transport vehicles from Greece, up to 60 soldiers and up to 12 combat and transport vehicles from Turkiye, up to 900 military and up to 450 combat and transport vehicles from the United Kingdom, and up to 10 military and up to 6 transport vehicles from the Netherlands,” it said in a statement. In the period from February 22nd to March 30th, the participants of the manoeuvres will return from Romania to their permanent locations.
It is also reported that representatives of the Spanish Armed Forces, the NATO Rapid Reaction Corps in Italy, staff officers of the NATO Joint Forces Command in Naples and others will be stationed on Bulgarian territory as part of the exercises from February 3rd to 28th. In total, up to 460 troops with personal weapons and ammunition, up to 95 combat and transport vehicles, two helicopters, two A400 AIRBUS transport aircraft, and up to six AV-8 HARRIER aircraft will be stationed in Bulgaria.
The Defence Ministry emphasised that the exercises will help strengthen Bulgaria's role as a significant ally of NATO.
