Sofia, Bulgaria: Amid the ongoing border tensions between Russia and Ukraine, the Government of Spain has sent four Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon fighter jets to Bulgaria. The Minister of Defence shared the information.
The jets arrived in Bulgaria on Friday at the Graf Ignatievo airbase near Plovdiv, in southern Bulgaria.
Moreover, a total of 130 officers from the Spain forces will be deployed in the European country till March 31, 2022. The defence ministry, in its statement, noted that service members would work in collaboration with the Bulgarian Air Force in order to conduct enhanced air policing jointly.
Air policing is a part of the NATO’ mission under measures that have been put in place for providing a guarantee to the states who are members of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) on the eastern flank.
The Bulgarian defence ministry further noted that this air policing would be carried out in adherence with NATO’s integrated air and missile defence system plans and procedures.
As the dispute tensions between Russia and Ukraine increased, NATO, the previous month announced to send more fighter aircraft as well as naval vessels. The international organisation also noted that more forces would be put on standby at NATO’s deployments in the Eastern Europe region with the motive to foster deterrence and defence as Russia continues to build up its military around Ukraine.
The European country became part of NATO’s Partnership for Peace in 1994 and applied for NATO membership in 1997.
About NATO:
It is an intergovernmental military alliance between twenty-seven European nations, 2 North American countries, and 1 Eurasian country. The headquarters are situated in Brussels, Belgium. NATO was founded on April 4, 1949.
The United Kingdom, the United States of America, France, Italy and Canada are among the founding member countries of the intergovernmental military alliance.