Spanish fighter jets began reconnaissance flights in the Bulgarian airspace over three major cities, Sofia, Plovdiv, and Burgas, the Bulgarian Ministry of Defence announced on Monday.
The Spanish military deployed six Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft to Bulgaria on Friday to carry out NATO’s enhanced airspace protection mission with the Bulgarian Air Force. The joint mission of the Bulgarian and Spanish military to protect the Bulgarian airspace will continue until 2 December.
Spain’s six fighter jets will be supported by 130 Spanish military personnel in Bulgaria.
“With this short-term deployment, Spain proves its capabilities and readiness to contribute to NATO’s collective defence in the Black Sea region,” said Lt. Gen. Francisco Braco Carbo, commander of the Spanish Joint Operations Command, as quoted by the Bulgarian Ministry.
The Spanish Defence Ministry explained that in this way, Spain participates in the efforts “of the Allies for reaction and deterrence,” specifically by “providing an air shield by increasing the regular missions of the Air Force.”
Spain has already sent 12 warplanes to Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Estonia after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February. Spain sent four Eurofighter fighters in February, which guarded the Bulgarian airspace for two months.
This is Spain’s second mission to protect Bulgarian skies since the start of the war.
Bulgaria relies only on the old Soviet MiG 29 fighter jets to protect its airspace, but they are set to be out of service as it is now impossible to service them in Russia. Dutch media reported last week that the Netherlands was considering giving old F-16 fighter jets to Eastern European NATO allies so they could send Soviet MiG-29s to Ukraine.
(Krassen Nikolov | EURACTIV.bg)
Source: euractiv.com
