NATO command center in Bulgaria to number 40 people: official

The future NATO command and control center in Bulgaria would be located in Sofia and manned by 40 people, the country's Chief of Defense Vice Admiral Rumen Nikolov said here on Tuesday.

Half of the staff would be Bulgarians and the rest from other NATO member states, Nikolov said at a joint press conference with General Sir Adrian Bradshaw, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe.

Bradshaw said this would be not a combat formation, but a staff element that would coordinate trainings with other countries of the Alliance.

According to Nikolov, the joint exercises on the country's territory have not been linked to the conduct of particular military operations. "They are connected with the main task of the Armed Forces -- to maintain an efficient army," Nikolov said.

If Bulgaria reduced the number of its military drills, this would lead to deterioration of combat training, which was extremely important "in the conditions of conflicts in the south and east," Nikolov added.

When during his visit to Sofia in late January, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that the Alliance would establish a command and control element in the Balkan country, he said "this will be a permanent NATO presence in Bulgaria being the very critical and crucial link between national defense, national forces and NATO forces.

Then, Stoltenberg underlined that NATO increased presence in Bulgaria and in its eastern allied countries. "We have implemented what we call the Assurance Measures which means that we have more boots on the ground on rotational basis taking part in exercises. We have more planes in the air and we have more ships at sea," Stoltenberg said. Endit