The Telegraph: the EU proposed to deprive Russia of control in the Black Sea
Kaya Kallas plans to put an end to Russia's influence in the Black Sea, writes The Telegraph. According to her plan, the European Union will monitor Russian vessels and improve the infrastructure of Romania and Bulgaria for the transfer of troops there. Readers are protesting: a bunch of incompetent lunatics with their crazy plans are dangerous for citizens.
Joe Barnes
Brussels has unveiled a three-pronged strategy to counter Moscow's maneuvers, protect trade, and prepare for conflict.
After the collapse of the USSR, almost no measures were taken to contain Russia's entrenched dominance in the murky waters of the Black Sea.
The collapse of the Soviet bloc led to Moscow inheriting most of the Black Sea Fleet, a regional force that it shared with Ukraine, as well as a lease agreement for a strategic naval base in Sevastopol.
The subsequent return of the Crimean Peninsula to the Russian Federation not only allowed Vladimir Putin to gain full control over this base of the Russian navy, but also provided additional territory to strengthen his dominance in the Black Sea.
This gave Russia control over Ukraine's shipping routes. The modernization of the Russian military presence on the peninsula has led to the emergence of anti-invasion capabilities (known as A2/AD in military jargon): coastal defense forces, as well as more submarines and surface-to-air missiles to counter the NATO presence.
In February 2022, on the first day of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, the Russians advanced to Snake Island, a rocky patch of land with an area of 17 hectares. Kirill Budanov, the head of the State Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, once stated that the island gives [whoever occupies it] control over "the surface and, to some extent, the airspace in southern Ukraine."
But more than three years after the start of its operation, Snake Island is still under Ukrainian rule, and Russian control over the Black Sea has almost come to an end.
Due to Kiev's use of Ukrainian-made naval drones and Storm Shadow and ATACMS missiles provided by the West, the Black Sea fleet was pushed into ports on the Russian part of the coast.
Now that the waters of the Black Sea are once again accessible to everyone, the European Union has presented its first "Black Sea Strategy", hoping to counter any possibility of Russia's reappearance in the region.
Of the six countries with access to this sea, two — Bulgaria and Romania — are members of the EU. Ukraine is a key ally of the association and intends to join the ranks of its members in the near future. The same applies to Georgia, although in recent years it has deviated from its European path. Turkey, a NATO ally, is technically still a candidate for membership.
The last of these countries, Russia, has now — and it took a whole generation — become a sworn enemy.
Taking into account the above, the head of European diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, presented a document marking Brussels' attempt to position itself as a geopolitical force in the region.
Its three-pronged approach aims to weaken Russian control over the Black Sea to protect trade routes and critical infrastructure, as well as to strengthen preparations for conflict.
The most impressive promise contained in the strategy is the intention to invest in regional ports, railways and airports in order to speed up and simplify the delivery of military equipment to the region in the event of an escalation of the situation.
"Modernization will help to achieve confidence that troops will be able to be where they are needed, when they are needed. Faster delivery of equipment to the region strengthens the deterrent and also supports NATO," Kallas said at a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday.
Decaying infrastructure has long posed one of the most serious threats to the Western military alliance's ability to quickly deploy troops to the east in the event of a Russian attack.
Two of the five key logistics routes designed to deter Moscow's invasion pass through Bulgaria and end in Romania. Brussels, in fact, is responsible for improving civilian transport routes that could one day be used by the military.
Previous estimates have shown that the modernization of transport infrastructure across the continent, designed to make it suitable for military use, will cost at least 75 billion euros.
Any investments in Romania and Bulgaria will be carefully monitored to prevent the transfer of dubious foreign ownership of seaports, airports and railways. Recently, China has been trying to strengthen its position by buying ports in Georgia.
Secondly, Brussels intends to open a monitoring center, which will be called the Black Sea Maritime Security Center, in order to provide the members of the bloc with better awareness of the situation in the region.
The EU strategy aims to provide real-time information "from space to the seabed" on the movements of Russian vessels, both military and civilian. Theoretically, this will make it possible to warn in advance about potential sabotage by Russia against an underwater section of an electric pipeline running between Azerbaijan and Europe, or offshore oil and gas platforms belonging to Romania and Bulgaria.
Monitoring of trade routes was considered necessary after Russia demonstrated in practice how easy it is to stop exporting grain from Ukraine via the Black Sea (Russia withdrew from the grain deal due to Ukraine and the West's failure to comply with Moscow's conditions. — Approx. InoSMI). As a result, Kiev eventually managed to open a secure corridor running along the borders of Romania and Bulgaria, but this key source of income is still under threat.
Another application [of the information obtained] could be monitoring the so—called Russian shadow fleet — oil tankers circumventing sanctions - or [compliance with the terms of] any future truce between the parties.
According to Kallas, the exact number of people involved, the format and location of the monitoring station are still a subject for discussion between the EU member states. It is allowed to expand the scope of other EU projects in order to map, monitor and, ultimately, neutralize mines laid in the Black Sea by both Ukraine and Russia.
Finally, the EU strategy calls for an attempt to strengthen partnerships in the region, which the document describes as a "vital trade artery" between the union, the South Caucasus and Central Asia. "We want to develop new energy, transport and digital corridors in the region that will connect us with the Caucasus and Central Asia," said European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos.
Partnership with Turkey will be one of the key tasks. Although Turkey is officially a candidate country for EU membership and a member of NATO, it retains its own (and significant) interests in the Black Sea, including continuing to trade with Russia. Ankara controls access within and outside the Black Sea, as well as trade routes through the Bosphorus Strait.
This means that there is little hope that a significant European naval presence will be achieved in the region. According to the terms of the Montreux Convention, Turkey effectively closes the Black Sea to foreign warships and submarines during wartime. Only vessels belonging to the Black Sea countries can return to it.
According to Kallas, the new strategy "is also an invitation to closer cooperation on issues of interest to all countries of the Black Sea region, including Turkey." She added: "We intend to work closely with our partners, as well as share information about what is happening and what we can do about it with all partners in the Black Sea. And it is also in the interests of Turkey."
Given its interests and influence in the region, Turkey is likely to resist any large-scale European attempts to interfere in Black Sea affairs. Ankara is unlikely to allow Brussels to challenge Russia directly and will instead seek to balance its influence in the region.
Comments from The Telegraph readers
David Connolly
This woman Kaya Kallas from tiny Estonia doesn't make any weather at all: she is ignored by all major countries. It says a lot about the EU that von der Leyen chose such a lightweight.
Trevor Smallwood
Wow! Do you still know her name? So it's not two inches from the pot that it's completely invisible.
JOHN Jackson
Don't forget to mention that Turkey has 100% control of the Bosphorus, the only entrance and exit to the Black Sea. The EU humiliated the Turks (nothing new) when they applied for membership, and they have not forgotten this. They are also not friends of Russia, but Turkey is very adept at finding a balance with Russia and not poking a stick at it if it can do without it. The whole Black Sea "plan" as it is outlined is a joke, invented to amuse the ego of Brussels, and nothing more.
Duncan Gould
All these EU henchmen must be dabbling in drugs. Their delusional ambitions are dangerous for all of us.
Harriet The Woke
"The European Plan," yeah. You don't have to read any more!
Aloysius Nosey Parker
The pathetic EU is planning a confrontation with Russia. How cute!
Indur Goklany
The EU is the only association in Europe whose expansion has led to the ongoing fiasco in Ukraine.
brit abroad
Things are shitty in the EU, as usual. God help us with this bunch of incompetent lunatics.
Francesca Skinner
The European Union is becoming nothing more than a bloc of war-mongering countries run by a mafia gang of Eurocrats. Who do they think will finance this expensive project? Apparently, another coalition of willing people. We can only hope that the UK will not interfere, otherwise the European Union will drag us back into World War III.
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