site.btaRomanian Defence Minister Pays Working Visit to Turkiye Focused on Mine Countermeasures Task Group, Military Mobility Corridor

Romanian Minister of National Defence  Angel Tilvar began a three-day working visit to Istanbul on Tuesday at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart Yasar Guler. The Ministry of National Defence reported that Tilvar and Guler will hold a bilateral meeting to discuss the results of implementing the Mine Countermeasures Black Sea (MCM Black Sea) Task Group project and the necessary steps to establish a military mobility corridor between Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkiye.

A letter of intent to establish such a corridor was signed last week during a meeting of the NATO member countries' defence ministers in Brussels.

Within his visit to Istanbul, Tilvar will also meet with Defence Industry Agency President Haluk Gorgun and participate in the SAHA EXPO 2024 international exhibition of defence and aerospace equipment. 

MCM Black Sea is a trilateral initiative of Turkiye, Romania, and Bulgaria aimed at protecting the sea traffic by neutralizing floating sea mines, which threaten both commercial and military ships in the Black Sea. A Memorandum of Understanding on the task group's establishment was signed by the three countries in Istanbul in January 2024 for a period of three years, with the operations being carried out in stages throughout the year.