The task group Türkiye, Bulgaria and Romania set up earlier this month could start demining the Black Sea by May, Bulgarian Defense Minister Emil Eftimov announced Monday.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Bulgarian Navy's Sea Survival Centre in the southern port city of Varna, Eftimov added that Türkiye has to ratify the agreement for the force to be operational, according to the state-run BTA news agency.
Saying the task force would be open to the participation of the other NATO allies, he said the operations would be done under the Montreux Convention on Turkish Straits. So, ships of non-littoral allies would not be used.
The force, whose command will be on a rotational basis, aims to help reduce shipping risks, Eftimov added.
Eftimov's deputy Atanas Zapryanov, Romanian Defense Minister Angel Tilvar and Defense Minister Yaşar Güler met in Istanbul on Jan. 11 to sign the agreement on demining the Black Sea as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to endanger their territorial waters.
The Russian navy mined Ukraine's Black Sea coastline in the early stages of the conflict nearly two years ago. Some of the mines have since drifted into the waters of the three countries, endangering shipping and complicating Ukraine's efforts to break through a Russian naval blockade.
"It is vital to be protected from security risks that war could cause," Güler said at the ceremony. "With the start of the war, mines drifting in the Black Sea posed a threat. To overcome this, we have come this far with the joint efforts of our Bulgarian and Romanian allies."
The Romanian Defense Ministry said the initiative would have a rotating command structure and "contribute to strengthening the allied posture of deterrence and defense of the eastern flank."
The agreement should also make it possible to secure Ukrainian grain exports along the Romanian and Bulgarian coasts, an alternative navigation route put in place after a U.N.-brokered deal ended following Russian withdrawal in the summer of 2023. In December, Ukrainian authorities said a Panama-flagged ship arriving to collect grain hit a Russian naval mine in the Black Sea, injuring two sailors.
The initiative involves only the ships of the three Black Sea littoral states, with contributions from other countries to be accepted only when conditions are met. Russia and Ukraine are yet to provide comment.
Ankara has been engaged in a series of efforts for the Black Sea crisis, including diplomatic initiatives to end the conflict, deliver humanitarian relief and establish the grain corridor.
Türkiye controls the Black Sea maritime and naval traffic, which must pass Istanbul's Bosporus Strait and the Çanakkale Strait 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-littoral countries to and from the Black Sea.
The measure prevented Britain from following through on plans last month to send two mine-hunting ships to the region to help Ukraine's efforts to export its grain.
The Turkish Presidency said early this month that Ankara, which has implemented the convention since 1936, "maintains its unwavering determination and principled stance throughout this war to prevent the escalation of tension in the Black Sea."
"Our pertinent allies have been duly apprised that the mine-hunting ships donated to Ukraine by the United Kingdom will not be allowed to pass through the Turkish Straits to the Black Sea as long as the war continues," it said.