Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey have inked a deal to form a group that will oversee joint demining operations in their territorial waters in the Black Sea.
Turkish and Romanian defense ministers Yasar Guler and Angel Tilvar and Bulgaria's Deputy Defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov on January 11 signed a memorandum of understanding in Istanbul establishing the Mine Countermeasures Naval Group in the Black Sea (MCM Black Sea).
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The initiative is meant to oversee operations to clear mines that have been floating in the Black Sea since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
“We jointly decided to sign a protocol between our three countries in order to fight more effectively against the mine danger in the Black Sea by improving our existing close cooperation and coordination,” Guler said at a news conference in Istanbul with Tilvar and Zapryanov.
Romanian Foreign Minister Luminița Odobescu told RFE/RL’s Romanian Service that while the first stage of the project is “trilateral,” it is open to the participation of other partners.
The operation will deploy demining ships, patrol ships, helicopters, and drones from the air. Turkey is expected to play the largest role because it has the most ships capable of demining operations. Romania will participate with demining ships, helicopters, drones, and divers.
Mines in the Black Sea laid by Russia have endangered shipping and complicated Ukraine's efforts to break through a Russian naval blockade. In the second part of 2023, several mines either hit ships in traffic or washed up on Romanian and Bulgarian shores.
The last known incident occurred on December 27 when a cargo ship heading to a Ukrainian port to load grain hit a mine and a fire broke out on board. Two people were injured, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, almost 90 floating mines have been destroyed in the Black Sea, most of them by Ukrainian forces. Five mines were destroyed by Romanian naval forces.