Distinguished Visitors Day, Part of Breeze 2025 Naval Exercise, Ends

Nikolay Zabov, BTA correspondent Danail Voykov

Naval exercise observed from aboard the Verni, Varna, July 18, 2025 (BTA Photo/Krasimir Krastev)

Varna, on the Black Sea,

18.07.2025 18:32

(BTA)

The Distinguished Visitors Day of the Breeze 2025 national naval exercise with international participation took place on Friday in the presence of Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov. Other guests included Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov, Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev, and Chief of Defence Admiral Emil Eftimov.

Participants in the operation demonstrated their capabilities in executing joint tasks and a high level of interoperability. The exercises included firefighting on a commercial vessel, response to incidents involving merchant ships, repelling attacks by surface drones and airborne threats, neutralizing a sea mine.

The 29th edition of the Breeze exercise, taking place between July 7 and 20, involves more than 1,500 service members from Albania, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, the United States, Turkiye, and France.

Zhelyazkov told reporters aboard the Navy frigate Verni that the Bulgarian Armed Forces are embarking on an accelerated pace of modernization. He specified that funding will be secured through two main channels: domestically, via the designated allocations, and externally, through the Simple Agreement for Future Equity financial mechanism.

Commenting on the Breeze exercise, the Prime Minister noted that these exercises are designed not only for practicing combat tactics but also for disaster and emergency response, mine countermeasures cooperation, and managing oil spill containment.

Zapryanov told reporters that he was very pleased with the motivation of the Armed Forces personnel. "What we have done, and I am grateful to the government for it, is to increase the salaries of military personnel, which is a very strong motivator," he said. He explained that the Naval Academy's Rector, Flotilla Admiral Kalin Kalinov, reported to him that all cadet positions were being filled this year. The same applies to the Air Force Academy in Dolna Mitropolia.

/IV/