On 16 and 17 May 2017 the Rector of Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy, Flotilla Admiral Prof. Boyan Mednikarov, took part in the Clearing House for the NATO’s Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP). This annual event was conducted for the sixth consecutive time and was hosted by the Spanish Centre for National Defence Studies (CESEDEN) in Madrid. It was attended by representatives of 14 NATO member states (Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and USA), 4 NATO partner countries (Austria, Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland), representatives of the PfP Consortium of military academies and institutes for security and defence, the George C. Marshall Centre, the Baltic Defence College, as well as representatives of NATO’s Defence College in Rome, NATO School Oberammergau, NATO Political Affairs and Security Division of the International Secretariat, the Headquarters of Allied Command Transformation, Supreme Allied Powers Europe Command, and the NATO representation to Ukraine.
The purpose of this clearing mechanism was to keep tally of the achievements, weaknesses and the needed areas for rendering methodological aid and assistance under the programme, which is active in 11 NATO partner countries (Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Mauritania, Moldova, Mongolia, Serbia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan).
Flotilla Admiral Prof. Boyan Mednikarov is the academic head of the DEEP part for Ukraine, which is aimed at enhancing naval education and preparation. In this segment of the programme, beside the leading role of Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy, there is active participation by the naval academies of France, Poland, Romania, and USA. The priority purpose is the recovery of the capacity for the training of naval personnel in Ukraine, which is carried out at the Naval Institute at the national university of Odessa.
The presentation by Flotilla Admiral Prof. Mednikarov was met with great interest by the participants at the sixth functional Clearing House, which was indicative of the active commitment by the Academy to this NATO programme and the determination its representatives to run it effectively.
