Some 1,100 US soldiers, some of them based in Germany, will take part in the exercise which will be code-named Bulwark 04 and take place over three weeks in July and August at Novo Selo, in eastern Bulgaria.

They will practice combat techniques used by NATO, the embassy said in a statement.

Lubomir Ivanov, the president of the influential Bulgarian NGO Atlantic Club, on Tuesday told the news agency BTA that US military was testing the ground in Bulgaria as part of its plan to move bases from western to eastern Europe.

WAR.WIRE