site.bta25 Years Ago: Bulgaria Hosts Cooperative Key 2001 Air Exercise

Bulgaria first hosted the multinational Cooperative Key 2001 air exercise under NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme 25 years ago, from September 11 to 21, 2001.

Military units from nine North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries and 13 countries participating in Partnership for Peace (PfP) took part.

The participating NATO countries were Canada, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Turkiye and the United States. The PfP countries were Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Republic of North Macedonia, Georgia, Latvia, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland.

More than 1,300 military personnel and about 70 aircraft took part, along with representatives of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and several non-governmental organizations supporting the exercise scenario.

The scenario envisaged aircraft and military units from NATO member and partner countries responding to a UN request for NATO to deploy a multinational task force in support of humanitarian operations.

The exercise coincided with the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, affecting security arrangements for participants. Some US military personnel were ordered back to their permanent bases, and national flags were lowered in memory of the victims.

On August 30, shortly before the exercise began, then-Defence Minister Nikolay Svinarov inaugurated the reconstructed runway and related facilities at Graf Ignatievo Air Base, built to NATO standards. The upgrade was linked to Bulgaria’s hosting of Cooperative Key 2001.

The following reports appeared in BTA’s domestic news bulletin:

Nine NATO Members and 13 Partnership for Peace Countries to Take Part in Cooperative Key 2001

Sofia, September 5, 2001 (BTA) Military units from nine NATO member countries and 13 countries participating in Partnership for Peace will take part in Cooperative Key 2001 (CK-01), an exercise to be held in Plovdiv from September 11 to 21. The Defence Ministry’s Information Policy Directorate announced the plans in an initial press release on the exercise sent to BTA.

The participating NATO countries will be Canada, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Turkiye and the United States, the release said. The PfP countries will be Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Georgia, Latvia, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland.

More than 1,300 military personnel and about 70 aircraft are expected to take part, along with representatives of UNHCR and several non-governmental organizations supporting the CK-01 scenario.

CK-01 is based on a fictional scenario in which aircraft and military units from NATO member and partner countries respond to a UN request for NATO to deploy a multinational task force in support of humanitarian operations.

CK-01 was developed by Commander-in-Chief of NATO’s Allied Forces Southern Europe Admiral James O. Ellis and will be directed by Lieutenant General Ronald Keys of Allied Air Forces Southern Europe, the press release said. (...)

Cooperative Key 2001 Multinational Air Exercise in Bulgaria to Open Officially in Plovdiv on September 11

Plovdiv, September 9, 2001 (BTA) The multinational NATO air exercise Cooperative Key 2001, held in the spirit of Partnership for Peace, will take place in Bulgaria from September 11 to 21, 2001. Bulgaria is hosting an exercise of this scale for the first time, Bulgarian exercise co-director Major General Dimitar Tsvetkov told a news conference in Plovdiv on Sunday.

Cooperative Key 2001 will open officially at the Ancient Theatre in Plovdiv on September 11.

The year’s largest multinational NATO exercise under Partnership for Peace will bring together 23 countries, more than 1,300 military personnel and 72 aircraft, as well as UNHCR representatives.

The Bulgarian Air Force will provide more than 520 personnel, two MiG-21s, two MiG-29s, two Su-25s, one Su-22M4, one An-26, two Mi-17 helicopters, two Mi-24 helicopters and one Bell 206 helicopter.

The exercise will use Graf Ignatievo and Krumovo air bases and the Koren training area. More than 300 flights are planned. (...)

Cooperative Key 2001 will put into practice the programme for assessing partner countries’ forces and military capabilities under NATO’s Operational Capabilities Concept, Tsvetkov told the news conference. (...)

The start of the exercise coincided with the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, a moment of global alarm that led to tighter security for participants:

Security Tightened for Cooperative Key 2001 Participants as Exercise Continues as Planned

Plovdiv, Graf Ignatievo Air Base, September 12, 2001 (BTA) Security has been tightened in Plovdiv to protect participants in the NATO exercise Cooperative Key 2001, Police Chief Colonel Valentin Petrov said on Wednesday.

Police, gendarmerie and military police units are guarding the city hotels where exercise participants are staying.

Regional Governor Gyoka Hadzhipetrov is convening a meeting of the regional commission responsible for protecting the public in disasters, accidents and catastrophes on Wednesday afternoon.

The meeting will discuss and identify the necessary safety and security measures.

Strict security measures have also been introduced at Plovdiv Airport near Krumovo, where NATO aircraft participating in the exercise and a military field hospital are based. Airport management, police and military representatives are discussing additional measures on Wednesday to ensure security at the airport.

Cooperative Key 2001 is continuing as planned on Wednesday, with seminars in Plovdiv and at Graf Ignatievo Air Base, the exercise’s international press centre said.

Government Says It Is Ready to Support Possible US and NATO Strike or Other Response Against Perpetrators of Terrorist Attacks

Sofia, September 13, 2001 (BTA) (...) Svinarov, who also took part in the news conference, was asked whether Bulgaria’s readiness to support a possible strike against terrorists included sending troops. "Readiness means that we, as the Council of Ministers, are prepared around the clock to take the necessary decisions under the proper procedures in response to requests made to us. Minister Passy mentioned our approach during the Kosovo crisis, which is very well known, and we will take the same approach in the present situation. If we receive specific requests for transit corridors, the passage of military units or our own participation, the Council of Ministers will decide on each under the proper procedures," Svinarov said. (...)

Svinarov added that no decision had yet been taken to suspend the NATO exercise under way at Graf Ignatievo.

He said all necessary measures had been taken to ensure Bulgaria’s security, that there were no specific or hypothetical threats at that point, and that there was no reason for panic. (...)

US Troops to Continue Cooperative Key 2001 Participation as Some Begin Returning to Bases

Graf Ignatievo Air Base, September 14, 2001 (BTA) US military personnel taking part in the multinational air exercise Cooperative Key 2001 in Bulgaria are not ending their participation, but some began returning to their permanent bases on Friday, the Bulgarian head of the exercise press centre, Colonel Yohan Stoyanov, said.

Between 200 and 300 US personnel involved in the exercise have been ordered to return to their permanent bases. About 100, mainly members of the exercise management team, are continuing to take part in Cooperative Key 2001. The multinational crew of the airborne warning and control system (AWACS) surveillance aircraft will also continue to fly exercise missions. (...)

Participants from all countries will observe a minute’s silence on Friday in memory of the thousands of victims of the barbaric terrorist attacks against the American people. The national flags of all participating countries at Graf Ignatievo and Krumovo air bases have been lowered for the day of mourning.

Cooperative Key 2001 Enters Most Intensive Phase with Airborne Landing and Humanitarian Operation

Plovdiv, Graf Ignatievo Air Base, September 17, 2001 (BTA) The multinational air exercise Cooperative Key 2001, being held in Bulgaria, entered its most intensive phase on Monday with an airborne landing followed by a humanitarian operation.

Under the exercise scenario, multinational force aircraft secured an air corridor for an airborne landing in a simulated territory, represented by Uzundzhovo airfield. US Air Force A-10 aircraft also took part in overflights and in clearing the airspace.

After the air corridor was secured, special forces transported by Romanian and French Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft parachuted onto Uzundzhovo airfield, held by a simulated enemy. The paratroopers seized the airfield and began operations to free prisoners and assist casualties, including the wounded, who were urgently evacuated to the field hospital near Krumovo Air Base.

Military units from Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Bulgaria and other participating countries contributed personnel, aircraft and other combat equipment to Monday’s operation. (...)

Military specialists said US and Bulgarian paratroopers had demonstrated strong combat skills on Monday, jumping in high winds from an altitude of about 300 metres, close to the limit for such jumps.

Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council’s Politico-Military Steering Committee Representatives Review Cooperative Key 2001

Plovdiv, Graf Ignatievo Air Base, September 19, 2001 (BTA) Representatives of the Politico-Military Steering Committee of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, which brings together 46 countries, arrived at Graf Ignatievo Air Base on Wednesday morning. They were briefed on the organization of the multinational air exercise Cooperative Key 2001 in Bulgaria and the operations conducted as part of it. The visitors also toured Graf Ignatievo and Krumovo air bases, the main sites of the NATO manoeuvres held in the spirit of Partnership for Peace.

A BTA reporting team was given access on Wednesday to the nerve centre of the air exercise, the operations centre from which the manoeuvres are directed around the clock.

More than 100 military personnel from almost all participating countries work together at the centre. Dozens of computer monitors continuously display comprehensive information on the operational situation, while a large screen shows a full picture of the airspace in the exercise area. The picture is provided by the airborne AWACS surveillance aircraft, which helps coordinate and direct all flights. A total of 48 flights by reconnaissance, ground-attack and transport aircraft and helicopters are planned for Wednesday. Officers at the operations centre said more than 400 successful flights had been completed since the start of the exercise by aircraft of the Bulgarian, Romanian, US, Dutch, Swedish and French air forces and those of almost all other participating countries. (...)

President Stoyanov and National Assembly Chair Gerdzhikov Visit Graf Ignatievo for Final Stage of Cooperative Key 2001

Graf Ignatievo Air Base, September 20, 2001 (BTA) President Petar Stoyanov and National Assembly Chair Ognyan Gerdzhikov arrived at Graf Ignatievo Air Base on Thursday morning for the final stage of the multinational air exercise Cooperative Key 2001 in Bulgaria. Svinarov, Chief of the Bulgarian Army General Staff General Miho Mihov and representatives of diplomatic missions in Bulgaria were also present.

Keys, commander of NATO’s Allied Air Forces Southern Europe and overall director of the exercise, welcomed the guests, including Stoyanov in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the armed forces and Gerdzhikov. At a briefing, the exercise command outlined the main themes and objectives of Cooperative Key 2001, the year’s largest NATO air force exercise in Europe. Eleven NATO member countries and 14 PfP partner countries are participating.

Addressing the exercise command and official guests, Stoyanov said Bulgaria had earned the honour of hosting the exercise through its political contribution in recent years to strengthening security both in the region and across Europe. He added that a Europe renewed after the fall of the Iron Curtain was fully justified in placing many of its hopes in NATO. In his view, solidarity between the Alliance and the countries known as new democracies would, quite rightly, form the foundation of European security for many years to come.

"If I had said these words just ten days earlier, I might have confined myself to a more mundane aspect of European security and the security of tomorrow’s world. But after the tragedy that befell the American people, security issues must be taken even more seriously," Stoyanov said.

Stoyanov added that Bulgaria had acted as a de facto NATO member at every moment of crisis in recent years, as a country already prepared to share responsibility for the Alliance and for a future united, secure Europe. (...)

Cooperative Key 2001, NATO’s Largest Air Exercise in Europe, Officially Closes

Graf Ignatievo Air Base, September 21, 2001 (BTA) Cooperative Key 2001, NATO’s largest air exercise in Europe this year, has ended after taking place in Bulgaria from September 11 to 21. More than 1,300 military personnel, over 70 aircraft and other combat equipment from units of 11 NATO member countries and 14 PfP partner countries took part. Dozens of peacekeeping and humanitarian operations were carried out successfully, and key elements of interoperability were practised.

For the first time at an air exercise in Bulgaria, Bulgarian teams directed more than 450 flights in English, Mihov said at the closing ceremony on Friday. He said this demonstrated the high level of interoperability between the Bulgarian Air Force and NATO air forces.

Mihov added that the tragic terrorist attacks in the United States had cast the only shadow over the exercise but had strengthened the resolve to fight the scourge of terrorism.

Exercise Co-Director Brigadier General Francisco de la Vega thanked the host country for providing excellent training conditions and facilities, which he said had helped the military contingents from all 25 countries feel part of a single team pursuing a common goal.

The ten-day NATO air manoeuvres Cooperative Key 2001 drew considerable interest from Bulgarian and dozens of foreign print and broadcast media outlets. Over the past several days, more than 100 journalists from almost all countries participating in the year’s largest NATO air manoeuvres in Europe worked at the exercise’s international press centre.