ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd June, 2022) Italy will run NATO's mission in Bulgaria, conducted as part of efforts to strengthen the alliance's eastern flank, Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini said.
"We are already present in Latvia and Romania, exercising control over the airspace, and if parliament agrees, our contingents will arrive in Hungary and Bulgaria. In Bulgaria, we will run this mission. We are talking about NATO missions to strengthen the deterrent capacity of the eastern flank," Guerini said on Rai 1 tv channel.
He said such deterrence is necessary "to prevent conflicts and strengthen security."
Last week, during a visit to Rome, Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said Italy will send more than 800 troops to Bulgaria as part of a NATO battalion.
