"Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria Join Forces to Clear Black Sea Mines"

Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a mine countermeasures naval group in the Black Sea to clear floating mines resulting from the war in Ukraine. The initiative will involve four military vessels carrying out patrols to hunt mines and will only be open to military ships of the three Black Sea coastal states. Sea mines have posed a threat to Ukraine's export routes via the Black Sea since Russia's invasion in February 2022, and the initiative aims to address this issue.