May 10 (BTA) - Starting on Monday, more than 400 troops, equipment and supplies from NATO's Allied Forces with very high readiness will pass via Bulgaria en route from Turkey and Albania to Romania where they are to participate in two NATO exercises, Steadfast Defender 2021 and Noble Jump 2021, the Bulgarian Defence Ministry said on Monday.

The passing troops and equipment will be escorted by the Bulgarian Military Police.

The troops and equipment from Turkey will pass Bulgaria along a route from the Lessovo border checkpoint, the Novo Selo training range, where they will spend the night to Tuesday, then on to Omourtag in Northeastern Bulgaria, the Danube Bridge at Rousse and onwards to Romania.

The route of the Albanian troops and equipment is from the Koulata border checkpoint, military unit 28 610 where they will spend the night to Tuesday, on to Mezdra and Vidin in Northwestern Bulgaria and then via Danube Bridge 2 on to Romania.

NATO announced the official start of Exercise Steadfast Defender 2021, its flagship exercise for 2021, on May 6, 2021 during a virtual news conference in Mons, Belgium.

The exercise is intended to improve the interoperability of the Allied forces and practice military mobility throughout Europe. The size and scope of Exercise Steadfast Defender 2021 will test NATOТs ability to move large numbers of troops, equipment and supplies across the Atlantic and Europe. The rapid deployment of reinforcement from North America, movement across the European continent and integration of multinational troops will strengthen the readiness and deterrence posture of Allied Command Operations.

The exercise will also be the first large test of NATOТs adapted Command Structure. It will involve the two new commands, one focused on logistics and reinforcement, Joint Support and Enabling Command (JSEC), based in Ulm, Germany, and the other focused on the North Atlantic, Joint Force Command Norfolk (JFCNF), based in Norfolk, Virginia, in the U.S.

Participating in the exercise are Albania, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, Britain, the United State and the partner countries Finland and Sweden. RI/ZH
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