On 12 August 2016, Lieutenant General Mark O. Schissler – Deputy Chairman, NATO Military Committee, was on an official visit at Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy.

He was accompanied by the Deputy Chief of Defence of the Republic of Bulgaria – Vice Admiral Emil Eftimov, and Rear Admiral Mitko Petev – the Commander of the Navy. Commodore Prof. DSc Boyan Mednikarov – Rector of the Naval Academy, welcomed the guests to the conference hall, where Captain (N) Ass. Prof. Dr Nikolay Velikov – Dean if the Navigation Faculty, delivered a presentation on the history and the current state of the Academy, its academic structure and staff, curricula for the training of civilian students and military cadets, master’s degree and doctoral programmes, international activities, business contacts and co-operation with other maritime institutions.

Escorted by the Rector of the Academy, Lieutenant General Schissler and the other high-ranking officers looked round with interest the newest complex – the Centre for integrated management and monitoring of the coastal zone, realized under the project of Integrated Information System for Support of the Coastal Zone Management.

Lieutenant General Schissler is on a three-day visit to Bulgaria by invitation by the Chief of Defence, General Konstantin Popov. While in Varna, he went to the HQ of the Navy and Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy.