SOFIA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Bulgarian government on Wednesday approved the deployment of up to 800 Italian servicemen on the country's territory, within the framework of NATO's multinational battle group.
The Italian servicemen will be deployed in Bulgaria with the necessary equipment for the period of operation of the battle group, the government said.
Italy will take the lead on the battle group. Meanwhile, the Bulgarian government has also approved the deployment of a military formation of up to 40 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Albania, with the necessary weapons and equipment.
Bulgaria will be represented within the battle group with one deployment of up to 140 servicemen, and another of up to 15.
The Bulgarian Defense Ministry has also announced on its website that one U.S. Army Stryker company of about 150 people and up to 20 vehicles has already been deployed in Bulgaria.
NATO has recently approved the deployment of four new battle groups in the eastern part of the alliance, including in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. ■
