“The planned operation for demining the Black Sea with our allies Romania and Turkey will not be a violation of the Montreux Convention,” Defence Minister Todor Tagarev said in Varna.

In his words, the operation will cover the whole region, including the entire Bulgarian exclusive economic zone. The focus in the operation will be the routes of the merchant ships. The finest details of the planned operation are now being cleared up, a memorandum is to be signed and it can go ahead by the end of the year, Minister Tagarev explained. Besides the demining operation with Romania and Turkey, we are also working on the acceleration of the acquisition of coastal anti-ship missiles complexes, which should take place by 2025, Todor Tagarev said further.