PARTENIT, Crimea. April 19 (Interfax-AVN) - The committee of Black Sea fleet commanders under the auspices of the Blackseafor naval cooperation group completed a meeting here on Friday, Ukrainian Navy Commander Mykhaylo Yezhel told Interfax-Military News Agency.
Partenit hosted an annual meeting of Black Sea countries' navy commanders simultaneously, from Tuesday to Friday.
Yezhel said that the main aim of both events was "collective discussion of pressing problems and issues of mutual interest." "In particular, in the course of the meeting we exchanged opinions concerning the conduction of anti-terrorist operations in the Black Sea, accomplishment of humanitarian and search-and- rescue missions and other issues," the commander said.
Russian Black Sea Fleet Commander Admiral Vladimir Komoyedov proposed establishment of a single legal base for protection vessels staying in the ports of Black Sea countries on official and business visits.
Under the auspices of the Blackseafor program the officials summed up results of the group's first activation, discussed a program of activities for 2002 and approved the group's leadership for the period of second activation scheduled for August.
"The meeting was a solid contribution to our common business - maintenance of peace in the Black Sea region," Yezhev stressed.
In addition to Yezhel and Komoyedov, the meeting of navy commanders of the Black Sea countries involved Turkish Naval Force Commander Bulent Alpkaya, Georgian Navy Commander Giglia Iremadze, Bulgarian Navy Chief-of-Staff Peter Petrov and his Romanian counterpart Corneliu Rudencu. On Friday the officials signed a declarationthat summed up results of the session.