Exercise BULGARIA 2025: Bulgaria, NATO, and the world prepare for extreme situations
In early autumn, from today until September 12, Bulgaria becomes the center of a large-scale international event dedicated to responding to extreme situations. Our country and NATO are conducting one of the most significant and complex exercises for emergency management – **_BULGARIA 2025_**, which brings together experts from all over the world. The news was officially announced by the press center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The Training Center of the General Directorate "Fire Safety and Civil Protection" (GD_FSCP) in Montana was chosen to host the exercise. This choice emphasizes the key role of the Bulgarian civil defense services and their readiness to meet global challenges. The official opening ceremony took place at Erden airport, where the base camp was also located, bustling with the arrival of hundreds of participants.
The **_BULGARIA 2025_** exercise is the result of the joint efforts of three key organizations: the General Directorate "Fire Safety and Civil Protection" at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the NATO Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) and the Bulgaria-based NATO Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE). This cooperation demonstrates the deep integration of Bulgarian structures into the common security architecture of the Alliance.
According to information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the maneuvers will involve about 1200 representatives from over 40 countries and international organizations, which makes **_BULGARIA 2025_** a true international forum. The focus of the exercise is on critical scenarios – from responses to natural and industrial disasters to countering hybrid threats. Special attention will be paid to the procedures related to the logistical support that the host country provides when receiving international assistance.
The holding of **_BULGARIA 2025_** comes in the context of increased activity of the Bulgarian armed forces within NATO. Just at the end of June this year, servicemen from the Ministry of Defense and the Bulgarian Army demonstrated their technical and operational interoperability capabilities in the NATO exercise **_Coalition Warrior Interoperability Exercise (CWIX)_** 2025. According to the announcement from the Ministry of Defense, the main focus of this exercise was the testing of allied and national command, control, communications, and intelligence systems, which emphasizes Bulgaria's commitment to digital transformation and multi-domain operations within a single network environment. Both exercises – **_CWIX_** and **_BULGARIA 2025_** – are an indicator of Bulgaria's strategic importance as a reliable partner in the efforts for collective defense and security.