Bulgaria, Romania, US navies to stage joint Black Sea drills
10 March 2014, 16:01 -- Bulgarian, Romanian and American navies are preparing to stage a passing military exercise, also known as PASSEX, to check their communication and cooperation capabilities. The war games are slated for March 11 and will be held in the Black Sea, southeast of Romania's city Constanța. This is according to the Bulgarian Defense Ministry.
The ministry said the exercise between the US Navy and two participants of NATO's Partnership for Peace program had been scheduled back in 2013 to test their maritime cooperation skills.
An official with the Bulgarian military underscored the event had nothing to do with the situation in Ukraine.
According to the source, these exercises are often staged when an ally ship drops by. This time the drills will involve a Bulgarian frigate, three Romanian ships and guided-missile destroyer USS Truxtun that will be docked in Bulgaria's Varna for the period of 12-14 March.
While the official reason of a PASSEX is to practice cooperation between NATO allies, it is believed that the unofficial motives behind these exercises might be to 'show the flag' (show the power of a nation through a public display of naval power) or other political reasons.
Voice of Russia, TASS
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