The ships are manned by some 700 sailors and come from the Dutch, Turkish, British and Spanish navies, the official said.

They were invited to anchor in the area by Serbia-Montenegro Defence Minister Prvoslav Davinic, as a part of ongoing efforts to improve cooperation between the North-Atlantic alliance and the Serbia-Montenegro military.

The military in Serbia-Montenegro, the loose union of two Balkan states which replaced the disbanded rump Yugoslavia last year, is going through a massive transformation in order to meet NATO membership requirements.

In early June the Serbia-Montenegro Navy held joint exercises with the Italian Navy in the Adriatic Sea.

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