Balkan troops train with US Marines

Balkan troops train with US Marines

The Platinum Lion 2015 joint exercise gathered hundreds of troops from Serbia, Romania and host nation Bulgaria.

A Romanian soldier accepts an award from a US Marine during the Platinum Lion training exercise that ended January 23rd in Bulgaria. [marines.mil]

Armed forces from Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania and the United States will be better equipped for action in the winter, following a first-of-its-kind joint exercise recently conducted at the Novo Selo Training Area.

The facility near Sliven, Bulgaria, played host to Platinum Lion 2015 from January 12th to 23rd. The annual engagement focuses on enhancing regional stability and security through multi-lateral training in non-lethal systems.

This year's edition involved more than 200 members of the Serbian, Bulgarian and Romanian armed forces, along with 250 US Marines.

The event marked the first time that marksmanship, urban patrolling, combat lifesaving, convoy operations and other exercises were conducted within the framework of the Black Sea Rotational Force programme in winter conditions.

"The aim of the exercise is to train units for participation in multinational operations ... in a multi-national environment," the Serbian Ministry of Defence said in a statement to SETimes.

The Marines worked with the Serbian, Romanian and Bulgarian soldiers to help them improve their capabilities. The training programme also aimed at strengthening the interoperability of the armed forces of the Balkan countries.

Such exercises "increase the confidence of both NATO and Partnership for Peace attending forces," the statement added "in the perspective of peace keeping and counter-insurgency missions in a multi-national...