Türkiye, Romania, and Bulgaria sign agreement for Black Sea demining
Photo: Türkiye, Romania, and Bulgaria sign agreement for Black Sea demining (msb.gov.tr)
Türkiye, Romania, and Bulgaria have signed an agreement on a joint plan for demining the Black Sea following Russia's war against Ukraine. The deal was reached after months of negotiations between NATO allies, reports Reuters.
The defense ministers of Türkiye, Yasar Guler, Romania, Angel Tilvar, and Bulgaria's deputy defense minister, Atanas Zapryanov, signed a memorandum of understanding in Istanbul to form a trilateral initiative for the disposal of explosive materials.
"With the start of the war, a threat of floating mines in the Black Sea has arisen. To combat it ... we agreed to form a Black Sea mine counter-measures task group," said Guler.
Sea mines pose a threat to Ukraine's export routes through the Black Sea since Russia's invasion in February 2022. Several commercial vessels, including a bulker heading to the Danube port to load grain, have been affected, especially in December of the previous year.
According to a representative from the Turkish Ministry of Defense, the agreement will involve three minehunters from each country and one command ship.
The naval commanders of the three countries will form a committee to manage the operation, said Guler, adding that after the end of the war in Ukraine, other Black Sea states may be involved.
The Turkish minister stated that Ankara considers the potential contribution to this initiative by non-Black Sea NATO allies as "valuable," but it will only be open to ships from the "three littoral allied countries."
'Grain corridor'
The issue of demining Ukraine is becoming increasingly acute as Russian occupiers continue to shell territories, contaminating them with mines. Additionally, mines are polluting the waters of the seas.
In this regard, Ukraine continues to strengthen cooperation with NATO member countries on the demining of the Black Sea waters.
Recently, it was reported that Bulgaria, as one of the Black Sea countries, may assist Ukraine in dealing with this issue.
It's worth noting that the spokesman for the Ukrainian Navy, Dmytro Pletenchuk, revealed how much time it would take to demine the Black Sea.
