Mustafa Talha Öztürk
21 October 2023•Update: 22 October 2023
BELGRADE, Serbia
Bulgaria, Türkiye and Romania will soon organize mine search and clearing operations in the Black Sea, Bulgarian Defense Minister Todor Tagarev said Friday.
"Some very small details need to be concretized before the operation begins. This operation will increase the security in the territorial waters of our countries,'' Tagarev said at the international conference on "Achieving Peace in Ukraine" held in Bulgaria’s capital of Sofia.
Tagarev said the participation of Ukrainian forces in mine-clearing operations is not foreseen.
"The biggest threat to Bulgaria's national security is Russia,'' he said, adding that Russia is an aggressive country, attacking Georgia in 2008, annexing Crimea in 2014 and declaring a war on Ukraine in 2022.
He claimed that Russia is disrupting the stability of the Black Sea region by harming free traffic when it organizes exercises in the Exclusive Economic Zone.
