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Russia stands against politicizing Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization

Nebenzya is representing the Russian delegation at the BSCE’s ministerial meeting

ISTANBUL, May 21. /TASS/. Russia stands against politicizing the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) to the detriment of the economic interests of its member states, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vasily Nebenzya told TASS on Sunday.

Nebenzya is representing the Russian delegation at the BSCE’s ministerial meeting.

"We stand for the BSEC to be a non-politicized organization aimed at multilateral cooperation, free of all discussions that divide countries; on the contrary, we stand for this organization to bring countries closer," the Russian diplomat said.

The BSEC is a regional economic structure uniting 12 countries: Azerbaijan, Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Rumania, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine. Some countries have an observer status at the BSEC.

The working bodies operating within the BSEC framework include the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, the International Center of Black Sea Studies, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Cooperation. About 20 working groups within the BSEC operate in the main areas of cooperation, including transport, energy, science and technologies, the environment, communications, agriculture, education, emergency situations and the fight against organized crime.