Spain to send fighter jets to Romania, Bulgaria to bolster NATO's eastern flank

Spain confirmed on October 22 that in the coming months it will deploy fighter jets to Bulgaria and Romania. 

The aim is to strengthen NATO's eastern flank, within the framework of the deterrence strategy, against the backdrop of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Bulgaria's BTA news agency reports, citing Agence France-Presse.

The Spanish Ministry of Defence said that between mid-November and early December it will send six Eurofighter fighter jets with 130 military personnel to Bulgaria to carry out "air policing training missions". From December to the end of March 2023, eight F-18M fighters will be deployed in Romania, also with 130 personnel from the Spanish Air Force.

The Spanish Ministry of Defence also says that a "long-range air surveillance radar" has been installed in Romania since October 17, where it will remain until the end of March or the end of June 2023.

The radar is active 24 hours a day thanks to 38 military personnel deployed to maintain it. This allows control of the airspace along NATO's eastern flank, noted the Spanish Ministry of Defence.

In this way, Spain participates in the allied reaction and deterrence efforts, specifically by"providing an air shield by increasing the regular missions of the air force.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February this year, the country has already sent 12 military planes to Bulgaria, Lithuania and Estonia, Agence France-Presse recalled.