ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, May 16 (UPI) -- A senior Russian military officer has urged the modernization of the multinational Black Sea Naval Cooperation Task Group to deal with changing security needs.
The Black Sea Naval Cooperation Task Group, or BLACKSEAFOR, was formally established at Turkey's initiative in 2001. The group comprises the Black Sea riparian nations of Turkey, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Romania, Georgia and Russia. It was set up to coordinate joint search and rescue and other humanitarian operations in the Black Sea, conduct environmental monitoring and goodwill visits among countries bordering the sea.
Besides participating in the group Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania are also NATO members. Non-Black Sea NATO warship deployment into the Black Sea is strictly governed under the Montreaux Convention, signed on July 20, 1936 by Turkey, Britain, France, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Yugoslavia, Australia and Japan.
Romania's Mediafax.com news agency reported on May 15 that during a meeting of BLACKSEAFOR naval commanders in St. Petersburg, Russian Navy commander-in-chief Vladimir Masorin told his colleagues the group's "objectives must be constantly kept up to date, and facing current security realities on the Black Sea should obviously be prioritized now."
