Bulgaria's Varna Hosts International Naval Exercise Breeze 2015

The naval base in Varna will host the national naval exercise with international participation Breeze 2015, which will be held between July 3 and 12 in the territorial waters of Bulgaria.

More than 30 ships and 1700 troops from the navies of Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey and the USA will participate in the exercise, Bulgaria's Defence Ministry informs.

Among the participating vessels will be three frigates from the Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1) and four ships from the Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 2 (SNMCMG2).

The Bulgarian Navy will participate with fifteen warships, auxiliary ships and cutters, two helicopters and more than 1000 personnel.

Furthermore, two air planes from the Bulgarian Air Force, troops from the Bulgarian Land Forces and an US patrol aircraft will also participate.

The main goal of the exercise is improving the operational compatibility and interaction between the navies of the participating countries through performing an exercise on crisis response.

The nineteenth edition of Breeze will contribute to the cooperation in multinational environment with 21 state organisations, institutions and departments from four ministries, local authorities, NGOs and private organisations.

During the exercise, a certification of the Bulgarian minehunter Tsibar will be performed in accordance with the NATO maritime evaluation MAREVAL programme.

Some of the foreign warships, stationed at Port Varna and Naval Station Varna, will be open for visit by citizens on Monday.

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