Balkan Seabrig group to hold exercises in the area of Constanta

Close on 500 servicemen of the Balkan Seabrig group will be engaged in the Cornerstone 2003 military exercises that will take place near Romania's Black Sea port of Constanta on May 14th through July 15th.

The exercises aim to practise control of a multinational military contingent and operational interaction between Seabrig's various structures while carrying out humanitarian operations, according to the Romanian defence ministry.

The exercises will also take place at Romania's shooting ranges Capu Midia and Babadag on the Black Sea coast, as well as at the US air base not far from Constanta.

The exercises will also involve engineer combat units of the American marines deployed in Europe, said the ministry.

Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, the US and Turkey have sent in units to Romania to take part in the exercises.

Earlier reports said the Seabrig command and staff structures would be re-deployed to Constanta from Plovdiv, Bulgaria, by 2004.