KYIV. Nov 22 (Interfax-AVN) - An international group for planning the basic events in the third activation of the Blackseafor naval cooperation unit will hold its first meeting in the Bulgarian city of Varna on November 25 and 26, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry press service reported on Friday.
The meeting will be attended by high-ranking naval officials of Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine, i.e. the countries that have set up Blackseafor, a press service official told Interfax-Military News Agency.
"Participants in the meeting will sum up results of the unit's second activation that took place in August this year and coordinate efforts for preparing the third activation. They are planning to discuss organization of the next meeting of the Black Sea region's navy commanders that is to take place in Bulgaria as well," the official said.
An agreement on Blackseafor's establishment was signed in Istanbul on April 2, 2001, with a goal to promote strengthening of friendship, good neighborly relations and mutual trust between the Black Sea countries as well as at to strengthen peace and stability by expanding cooperation between the six navies.
The group's missions are to conduct search and rescue operations, provide humanitarian aid, effect mine-clearance, protect the environment and make goodwill visits.