Military training exercises usually increase in number during the spring and their season in Bulgaria has already been gaining force. Several of those have taken place since the beginning of March. In 2016 the trainings are marked by some specific signs due to the political realities across the region and the entire world.

The Premier ordered an urgent and joint army–police training exercise in the beginning of March for a possible response to eventually increased migrant pressure towards the Bulgarian borders. Taking into consideration such an option in March, the cabinet deployed military personnel of more than 400 in the southwestern part of the state. Now a reinforcement of other 300 soldiers and officers will be sent to the border area and those are to be trained now for their specific tasks. We also witness preparation activities to the East. The naval forces had this PASSEX routine exercise with a Canadian frigate and a group of Turkish military vessels – tacticaland air defense, actions against submarines, followed later on by a joint training with Border Police for eventually increased migration pressure by sea. A multinational tactical exercise of the land forces together with the US 3^rd Infantry Division in Europe has been launched as of yesterday. Its purpose is to show whether the Bulgarian land forces are capable enough of taking part in NATO crisis operations.

The training shows of the army this year seem to be more modest, but several of those required a longer stay of US military aircrafts on Bulgarian territory. The Thracian Thunder 2016 exercise in the period January – March envisaged the presence of A-10 attack aircrafts in the Graf Ignatievo airbase. A squadron of F-15s will be based here in the period April – end-July for a training named Thracian Eagle 2016. A Bulgarian–American exercise with F-16s – Thracian Star 2016 is scheduled for July, followed by the traditional Black Sea Rotational Force in July and August. There will be also a tactical course for transport aviation EATTC 2016-3 within the EU, as the Bezmer airbase will be now ready to receive strategic transport aviation as of the end of April. At the same time common air force trainings with Greece and Romania are forthcoming.

This entire military training activity this year is taking place within a more different situation. The unprecedented migrant crisis left its mark on it. Some of the exercises also involved Red Cross personnel and civilians. Any participation of the military in actions, typical for the interior ministry only was accepted with reserves till recently. Now armies of other countries do the same with all this migration pressure arround.

The military and political tension around Ukraine is now weaker and the fears of any actual clash are not that strong nowadays. However, Moscow is preparing a new concept on its foreign policy and NATO is preparing for a Warsaw summit in July. The new Russian concept will clarify what Foreign Minister Lavrov meant by saying that their policy of deterrence should now go to the archive. The Warsaw summit will make it clear what reinforcements will be deployed along the periphery of the Alliance with Bulgaria being situated on its southeastern flank. The new military and political decisions that are forthcoming over the next months will definitely have their impact on the preparation maneuvers and other actions of the armies. The respective effects will be most likely felt in the autumn.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev