Turkiye, Romania, and Bulgaria signed an MCM agreement to activate a centre to combat drifting sea mines in the Black Sea. The MCM BLACK SEA Committee Meeting and Signing Ceremony was held in Istanbul, with the participation of Turkish Naval Forces Commander Admiral Ercüment Tatl1oğlu, Romanian Naval Forces Commander Vice Admiral Mihai Panait, and Bulgarian Naval Forces Commander Rear Admiral Kiril Yordanov Mihaylov. Drifting mines in the Black Sea threaten the safety of regional countries and civilian ships exporting agricultural products from Ukraine.
Some Black Sea countries, including Romania, attempted to use this situation to undermine the Montreux Convention. This move implies allowing warships of non-Black Sea countries, primarily the U.S., to enter the Black Sea. Such a move also implies the entry of Russia's Baltic Fleet into the Black Sea, which Ukraine objects to. In this environment, while Romania aimed to include NATO countries in the Black Sea mine-clearing operation, it joined a mine-clearing mission led by Turkiye.
As a result, Romania paused its efforts to call NATO into the Black Sea, while NATO expressed full support for the operations led by Turkiye.
Following the signing ceremony, the “MCM Black Sea Task Group,” formed to detect and neutralize drifting mines in the Black Sea, will set sail for the Black Sea after operational training, consisting of four military shipsᅳtwo Turkish, one Romanian, and one Bulgarian.
