3 NATO members in mine clearing deal
Dangerous Russian mines have washed up on the coast of Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania
Daily TribuneDangerous Russian mines have washed up on the coast of Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania
Oleksandr GIMANOV / AFP
Three North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries signed in Istanbul, Turkey on Thursday an agreement for the joint clearing of Russian mines in the Black Sea that washed up in their waters.
The deal among Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania establishes the Mine Countermeasures Naval Group in the Black Sea that will oversee the demining operation.
“It is of vital importance to be protected from security risks that war could cause,” Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler said at the signing ceremony.
“MCM Black Sea’s activities are entirely peaceful in nature and are not directed against any other country,” the Bulgarian defense ministry said.
The Russian navy mined Ukraine’s Black Sea coastline in the early stages of its invasion last year.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council demanded on Wednesday an “immediate” end to attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea.
The resolution passed “demands that the Houthis immediately cease all such attacks, which impede global commerce and undermine navigational rights and freedoms as well as regional peace and security.”
It was adopted after Russia, as well as China, Mozambique and Algeria, abstained.
The intensifying attacks have caused shipping companies to bypass the route and instead divert around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, significantly adding to journey times and cost.
