Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria are discussing the creation of a joint mission to clear the Black Sea of mines.
Three officials familiar with the matter told "Bloomberg" about this.
According to their data, the countries can create a joint demining unit as early as November, while the details of the mission are still being discussed.
The joint Black Sea demining project is not a NATO operation, but it could become the first major project by the Allies in the Black Sea after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
According to two "Bloomberg" interlocutors, the upcoming mission is of a peaceful nature and its purpose is to show that Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria are capable of solving the problem on their own. Therefore, new NATO ships will not be put to sea.
- In August, the Bulgarian Navy increased security measures at sea due to a mine that exploded in front of the Forum Hotel in Romania on August 14. And in July, 28 unexploded shells were found on the coast near Istanbul. The shells were at a depth of 1-1.5 m at a distance of 10 m from the shore.