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Bulgaria has approved the purchase of seven minehunter ships from Belgium and the Netherlands, as NATO seeks to bolster its capabilities to clear naval mines and secure shipping routes in the Black Sea.
Along with Romania and Türkiye, Bulgaria agreed at a NATO summit in July to expand a joint task force that clears mines floating in the Black Sea to include missions protecting critical infrastructure.
Under a sale agreement with the Netherlands approved by the Bulgarian parliament on Wednesday, Bulgaria will receive three ships equipped to seek and destroy mines and mine-like objects.
A separate transfer agreement between Belgium, the Netherlands and Bulgaria covers four additional vessels.
The Netherlands has committed to restoring the technical capabilities and increasing the operational capacity of three of the ships before transferring ownership, with Bulgaria covering the cost of repair and restoration work needed to bring all seven vessels up to NATO operational readiness standards.
"These mine hunters are particularly necessary. We have three of the same type, and with these seven we will complement and further enhance our capabilities," then-Bulgarian Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov told lawmakers before the deal was approved back in 2024.
"Bulgaria is part of the mine countermeasures group established together with our colleagues from Türkiye and Romania, and it is working in excellent coordination to clear the maritime areas of the three countries," Stoyanov said.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) covering the acquisition also includes crew training, spare parts and additional equipment.
Türkiye, Bulgaria and Romania formed the Mine Countermeasures Naval Group in the Black Sea (MCM Black Sea) in January 2024, signing a MoU in Istanbul to oversee demining operations after Russia's navy mined Ukraine's Black Sea coastline in the early stages of its 2022 invasion.
Some of those mines subsequently washed up in the waters of the three countries, endangering shipping and complicating Ukraine's efforts to break through Russia's naval blockade.
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler said at the 2024 signing ceremony in Istanbul that the initiative was vital for protecting against security risks posed by the war.
"With the start of the war, mines drifting in the Black Sea posed a threat. To overcome this, we have come this far with the joint efforts of our Bulgarian and Romanian allies," Guler said.
Romania's Defense Ministry said at the time that Russia's "aggressiveness and disdain towards the norms of international law turn the Black Sea not only into a regional problem, but one with global implications," adding that the group would have a rotating command structure and contribute to strengthening NATO's deterrence posture along its eastern flank.
On 22-23 July, as part of the 11th Activation of the Mine Countermeasures Black Sea (MCM Black Sea) Task Group, the Bulgarian Navy vessels Struma and Dimitar Dobrev, together with the Romanian Navy vessel Constantin Dumitrescu, paid a port visit to Umuryeri Port.
Türkiye controls Black Sea maritime and naval traffic, which must pass through the Bosphorus Strait and the Dardanelles before reaching the Aegean and Mediterranean seas.
With the outbreak of the war, Türkiye invoked a clause of the Montreux Convention banning the passage of naval vessels from non-littoral countries into and out of the Black Sea.
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