Bulgaria's Defense Ministry has decided in favor of preserving the only alpine battalion in the Bulgarian Army, Defense Minister Anyu Angelov announced.

The 101st Alpine Battalion, part of the Special Forces of the Bulgarian Army, is based in the city of Smolyan in the Rhodope Mountains, close to the Bulgarian border with Greece.

"101st Alpine Battalion will be preserved because it is presents a unique defense capacity for the Bulgarian Army," Gen. Angelov told the servicemen and servicewomen in the battalion in Smolyan on Monday.

He said the battalion will be restructured as of June 2013, reducing it by 55 soldiers but that it will have additional reservist spots.

Angelov praised the high level of preparation and training of the military base in Smolyan. Colonel Katsarov who is in command of the only Bulgarian alpine battalion pointed out that a high number of its soldiers have participated in missions abroad, and a very high number of women serve in the unit.

The 101st Alpine Battalion in Smolyan, which is part of the 68th "Special Forces" Brigade of the Bulgarian Army, is the successor to the Sredna Gora regiment created by Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand in 1889.

Its dissolution has been discussed in the past 20 years but the Defense Ministry has ultimately decided to preserve it; until 2009, the alpine battalion was not counted as part of the Special Forces; it was by itself an independent "101st Mountain Brigade".

The 101st Alpine Battalion focuses its training on fighting in mountainous terrain, sniper skills, ski warfare; its training is very different from that of the other Bulgarian commandos.