SOFIA, January 22. /TASS/. The Bulgarian Telegraph Agency reports that, at a briefing in Varna, Chief of the Defense Staff of the Bulgarian army Admiral Emil Eftimov announced that an anti-mine group consisting of the navies of Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria in the Black Sea would start working in April-May.

"Turkey should ratify the previously signed agreement to let the group start real work," Eftimov noted. The Admiral expressed confidence that there would be no difficulties in carrying out work to eliminate the mine threat, since the Navies of the three states had repeatedly conducted joint exercises.

Bulgarian Defense Minister Todor Tagarev clarified that the minesweeping group will be open to NATO partners, but other countries’ ships are not expected to participate in the operation, since the group will operate under the Montreux Convention.

Mines drifting in the Black Sea have repeatedly been seen at the ports of coastal countries and come close to the mouth of the Bosphorus Strait. In this context, there appeared an initiative to create a joint group that could clear the sea of mines. In September 2023, the working and technical delegations of the three countries began elaborating on the text of a trilateral memorandum that was signed on January 11.