UK Defense Secretary Attends NATO-Led Drill During Historic Visit To Serbia - Belgrade

British Secretary of State for Defense Ben Wallace has attended the NATO-led military drills "Platinum Wolf 2021" in Serbia, becoming his country's first top military official to visit the Balkan nation, the Serbian defense ministry said on Thursday

BELGRADE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th June, 2021) British Secretary of State for Defense Ben Wallace has attended the NATO-led military drills "Platinum Wolf 2021" in Serbia, becoming his country's first top military official to visit the Balkan nation, the Serbian defense ministry said on Thursday.

The Serbia-hosted drills, also involving armed forces from eight NATO member states Bulgaria, France, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, the UK and the US and Bosnia and Herzegovina, are underway from June 3 to June 18.

"Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Nebojša Stefanović, PhD, and the UK Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace have just arrived at the 'South' base near Bujanovac, where the Distinguished Visitors Day for the multinational exercise 'Platinum Wolf 2021' will soon begin," the ministry said in a statement, noting that Wallace is the first British defense secretary to visit Serbia.

The drills have been held annually since 2014. This year's edition gathered 524 servicemen, with the British contingent being the most numerous with 69 participants. The exercise aims at developing operational interaction and mutual understanding of partner countries at the tactical level during peace support operations in a multinational environment.