site.btaDemining Task Group in Black Sea Will Be Activated in Early July

The first activation of the Mine Counter-measures Task Group Black Sea of Bulgaria, Turkiye and Romania will begin on July 2, Defense Chief Admiral Emil Eftimov. He was attending a VIP day at the joint live-fire Shabla 2024 exercise on Wednesday. The exercise takes place at the Shabla anti-aircraft range of the Air Force. Eftimov said that there will be three activations this year. During the first one the group will take part in the Breeze 2024 exercise. The next two activations of the group will be in September and November. Political commitments are backed up by efforts of the military, Admiral Eftimov said.

He said that the preparation of the Bulgarian armed forces continues and at the moment there is a demonstration at the Shabla anti-aircraft range. He added that Bulgaria is participating in the Ramstein Legacy – 2024 exercise. According to him, there are allied forces deployed on Bulgarian territory from Slovenia, and representatives of the NATO Centre of Excellence, with which the procedures related to all forces deployed in Southeast Europe, respectively in Romania, are elaborated.

Admiral Eftimov recalled that last week the Thracian Warrior ended. "What we have stated as a level of ambition - to have a multinational division headquarters in Bulgaria, is going according to plan. We have worked out the concept of the Koren training ground and we have good results from the Allied Land Command," Eftimov said in conclusion and added that Bulgaria's proposal was accepted, confirmed and the work continues.