Maritime Operations and Exercises. Instruments for the Implementation of Regional Security in the Black Sea

Abstract

After the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Iron Curtain – realities corroborated by the geopolitical implosion of the former USSR in 1989, the Wider Black Sea Region has experienced a phase of acute transition, now becoming the centre of geopolitical and geostrategic interests of major state and non-state actors with global or regional values, as follows: USA, NATO, EU, Russian Federation, Turkey. The sustained interest in ensuring security in the WBSR is represented by the launch and development of various formats of cooperation and exercises that denote an almost continuous presence of Allied forces in the Black Sea basin, respecting the conditions provided by the Montreux Convention. Ongoing training, achieving a higher degree of interoperability through standard procedures and increasing the responsiveness of military and civilian forces through the planning and conduct of maritime exercises and operations in the WBSR is the projection of political will through military initiatives, CIMIC and law enforcement specific instruments.