Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey may start demining the Black Sea this summer

The implementation of the memorandum on demining the Black Sea is likely to begin in the summer. This was stated by Ambassador of Ukraine to Turkey Vasyl Bodnar.

According to the diplomat, each of the parties has its own specifics for putting the trilateral memorandum signed on January 11 into effect. In particular, Romania has already done so, Bulgaria is undergoing internal procedures, and in Turkey this document must be ratified, as the use of armed forces units that will be engaged in demining falls within the competence of the parliament.

“That is why the Turkish side is doing everything possible to ensure that the state approval and ratification are completed in the next month and a half. It is most likely that the ships will go to sea sometime in the summer months, and the area of coverage is international waters. Relatively speaking, if we draw a line from Odesa to the Bosphorus, then to the west of this line. That is, we can assume that from the former grain corridor line to the west to the territorial waters of Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey,” Bodnar explained.

The ambassador added that the demining will take place within the framework of NATO, as the so-called regional responsibility principle was agreed upon at the Vilnius Summit, and in this context, Turkey initiated this project.

“It is useful for us, we are interested in it, and we are working on joining it. The official statement is that joining ships or equipment that is needed is possible only after the war, so as not to become targets of attacks. At the same time, information exchange and other cooperation is possible in a different time frame. We will negotiate this directly during the meetings,” he summarized.

Tags: Black Sea grain corridor, demining