After announcing last October the intention to create a goint force to clear the Black Sea of mines and to ensure the safety of sea lanes, NATO members Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey have invited other countries to join the upcoming Black Sea demining operation, IPN reports, with reference to “European Pravda” in Kyiv.
The source quoted the Defense Ministry of Bulgaria as saying that the initiative remains open to joint actions of other NATO member countries outside the Black Sea region. “For the time being, mine countermeasure ships of the three Black Sea allied states – Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey – will participate in the Mine Countermeasures Naval Group in the Black Sea,” said the Ministry.
The Bulgarian government noted that the group’s activities will not be directed against any other country and that the Black Sea demining operation is expected to help improve interaction and good-unneighborly relations between the participants.
The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the governments of Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey on the establishment of the Mine Countermeasures Naval Group is set to take place in Istanbul on Thursday, followed by an operational planning process to develop detailed documents and instructions for the group’s actions in every respect. This process can take up to several months.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Romanian, Bulgarian and Turkish military diving teams have been regularly clearing mines drifting in their waters.
This minesweeping force would not be considered a NATO operation. Still, it would be the first major joint action by the Black Sea allies since President Vladimir Putin ordered his army to invade Ukraine in February 2022.
IPN notes that Turkey recently blocked the passage through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits of the two demining ships sent to Ukraine by the UK, in order to comply with the Montreaux Convention on the regime of the Black Sea straits, but uses its right to assume international responsibilities.
The Black Sea demining operation also directly affects the interests of the Republic of Moldova. The Giurgiulesti International Free Port (GIFP) has the status of international port, with available water depths of up to 7m and is capable of receiving both river and sea vessels. In this regard, GIFP is the only direct river-sea point of distribution and transshipment to/from the Republic of Moldova; a regional logistics center at the border of the European Union with access to land, rail, river and sea communication routes.
