NATO members Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey have invited other countries to join the upcoming Black Sea demining operation, a joint initiative to clear the sea of mines and ensure the safety of sea lanes, Bulgaria’s Defence Ministry told Euractiv.
The initiative remains open to joint actions and the participation of mine countermeasure forces and assets 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 (MCM Black Sea),” the ministry told Euractiv.
The group was initiated by Turkey back in August, with the main task of ensuring the safety of sea lanes in the Black Sea in response to the mine threat that arose after the start of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
The Bulgarian government claims 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-neighbourly relations between the participants, the Defence Ministry explained.
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.
“The war in Ukraine, started by Russia, leads to risks for our territory, for the security of shipping, and to minimise these risks, the navies of the three countries are also involved in clearing mines, we hope, successfully,” Defence Minister Todor Tagarev said last Thursday about the frequent cases of accidents with ships in the Black Sea.
In the latest case, in late December, a Greek cargo ship sailing under the Panamanian flag in the Black Sea encountered a Russian mine. A fire subsequently broke out on its deck, and two sailors were injured.
After withdrawing in July from the UN-brokered international agreement on Ukrainian grain exports, Russia said it would consider any ship in the Black Sea a potential military target.
On Tuesday. Turkey said it would not allow two minesweepers donated to Ukraine by Britain to pass through its waters en route to the Black Sea, as that would violate an international pact on wartime passage through the straits, Reuters reported.
Last month, the UK said it would transfer two Royal Navy ships to the Ukrainian Navy to help bolster Ukraine’s maritime operations in its war with Russia.
Turkey has informed its allies that it will not allow vessels to use its Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits while the war in Ukraine continues, the presidency said.