Ukraine, Romania, and Bulgaria may set up joint military brigade

Ukraine, Romania, and Bulgaria may set up a joint military brigade, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has said at a joint press briefing with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis in Bucharest.

“During the Bulgarian president’s visit to Kiev and our today’s talks, we discussed the possibility of setting up a Ukrainian-Romanian-Bulgarian brigade,” he said.

He said the brigade will be modelled on the Ukrainian-Lithuanian-Polish Brigade (UkrLitPolBrig).  “We have a positive experience in implementing this agreement. I am sure such steps will upgrade the security and confidence in the region and throughout Europe,” Poroshenko said.

Earlier today, during his visit to Romania, Poroshenko said Ukraine may join the NATO Flotilla in the Black Sea in future. On September 19 2014, the defense ministers of Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania signed an agreed to set up a joint brigade under the aegis of UN, NATO, and EU. Poland will send nearly 2000 militaries to the Brigade, Ukraine – 545, and Lithuania – 350. On January 25 2016, the Brigade’s headquarters was opened in Poland. Its major task is to participate in peacekeeping operations.