Bulgaria proposes hosting Black Sea ceasefire monitoring centre

Bulgaria proposed establishing a multinational centre on its territory to ensure the safety of shipping in the western Black Sea at the 27 March summit of the coalition of the willing in Paris, the Bulgarian government press service has reported.

Source: European Pravda

Details: Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov stated that the coordination centre would provide continuous surveillance and early warning of potential threats and hostile activities in the western Black Sea.

Quote: "The goal is to establish guidelines for shipping and to carry out monitoring – both from the air and from the sea – of critical infrastructure and all potential hostile actions in the Black Sea."

Details: As an example of successful cooperation of this kind, Zhelyazkov cited the joint demining efforts in the Black Sea undertaken by Bulgaria, Romania and Türkiye, which began in summer 2024.

Background:

• Following negotiations in Saudi Arabia on 23-25 March, the United States, Russia and Ukraine agreed on ensuring the safety of shipping, excluding the use of force, and preventing the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea.
• However, Russia subsequently put forward a list of demands, including the easing of several sanctions on the agricultural sector. The US stated it would review the demands, while European countries rejected the idea of easing sanctions.

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