Türkiye, Bulgaria, Romania to Sign Black Sea Demining Deal

Russia mined Ukraine's Black Sea coastline in the early stages of its invasion last year - AFP
Russia mined Ukraine's Black Sea coastline in the early stages of its invasion last year - AFP
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Türkiye, Bulgaria, Romania to Sign Black Sea Demining Deal

Russia mined Ukraine's Black Sea coastline in the early stages of its invasion last year - AFP
Russia mined Ukraine's Black Sea coastline in the early stages of its invasion last year - AFP

NATO members Türkiye, Bulgaria and Romania will sign this week a preliminary agreement on demining the Black Sea, officials said on Wednesday.

The Russian navy mined Ukraine's Black Sea coastline in the early stages of its invasion last year.

Some of the mines have since washed up in the Black Sea waters of the three NATO member states, endangering shipping and complicating Ukraine's efforts to break through the Russian naval blockade.

Top defense officials from Türkiye, Bulgaria and Romania will sign a memorandum of understanding in Istanbul on Thursday establishing Mine Countermeasures Naval Group in the Black Sea (MCM Black Sea), which will oversee the demining mission's operations, officials from the three countries said.

"MCM Black Sea's activities are entirely peaceful in nature and are not directed against any other country," the Bulgarian defense ministry said.

"It is expected to help improve interaction and good neighbourly relations between the participants, without replacing NATO's presence and ongoing deterrence and defense activities in the Black Sea area."

The Romanian defense ministry said the initiative will have a rotating command structure and "contribute to strengthening the allied posture of deterrence and defence of the eastern flank."

According to AFP, neither Russia nor Ukraine immediately commented on the announcement.

Türkiye controls Black Sea maritime and naval traffic, which must pass Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait and the Dardanelles before reaching the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas.

With the outbreak of war, Türkiye invoked a clause of an international treaty called the Montreux Convention banning the passage of naval vessels from non-literal countries to and from the Black Sea.

The measure prevented Britain from following through on plans last month to send two mine hunting ships into the region to help Ukraine's efforts to export its grain.



France Plans to Take Iran to Int’l Court over Citizen Detentions

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (R) during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting in Brussels, Belgium, 03 April 2025.  EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (R) during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting in Brussels, Belgium, 03 April 2025. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
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France Plans to Take Iran to Int’l Court over Citizen Detentions

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (R) during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting in Brussels, Belgium, 03 April 2025.  EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (R) during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting in Brussels, Belgium, 03 April 2025. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET

Two French citizens held in Iran for almost three years have not had consular services for more than a year prompting Paris to prepare a complaint at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), France's foreign ministry said on Thursday.
Cecile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris have been held since May 2022. Iranian state television aired a video later that year with them appearing to confess to acting on behalf of French intelligence services, something categorically denied by Paris.
Held in Tehran's Evin prison, France has accused Iran of keeping them in conditions akin to torture.
French officials have toughened their language towards Iran, notably over the advancement of its nuclear program and regional activities, but also the detention of European citizens in the country.
Speaking after a rare cabinet meeting to broadly discuss Iran on Wednesday, France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot indicated Paris would soon take the matter of violating the right to consular protection to the ICJ.
"We are putting together a complaint that we will file at the ICJ," Foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine told reporters at a news conference on Thursday, adding that the Kohler and Paris were being held in "shocking" conditions.
According to Reuters, Lemoine declined to say when it would be filed and acknowledged that procedures at the ICJ were long, but insisted that Tehran needed to be called out on the issue because the embassy and consulate had not had access to their citizens for more than a year.
"It's in violation of Iran's obligations," he said, citing the Vienna convention on consular relations.
In recent years, Iran's Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security.
Rights groups have accused Iran of trying to extract concessions from other countries through such arrests.
Iran, which does not recognize dual nationality, denies taking prisoners to gain diplomatic leverage.