While the repercussions of Ukraine’s hitting Russian bases, thousands of kilometers away, the European Union (EU )’s “Black Sea strategy” has a risk of opening door to new tensions. The new strategy described by the EU reveals the desire to be geopolitical involvement in the security of the region; The latest statements of EU diplomacy chief Kaja Kallas and the expansion commissioner Marta Kos confirm these concerns. The last statements of the Kos and the Kos duo, which expressed that the Black Sea has become the center of an environmental and economic zone, but also in Europe’s security architecture, reveals the importance of the Montreux Straits Convention. Strategists, led by France and Germany; They draw attention to the fact that the new connections that they want to establish with the countries of the region with military, commercial and digital infrastructure investments have both strategic opportunities and complex risks for Türkiye.
Military Investment Move
One of the most remarkable elements of the EU’s new strategy is the moves to modernize the infrastructure for the transportation of heavy military equipment in the Black Sea. Bulgaria and Romania’s port, railway and airport investments point not only to the increase in regional capacity, but also to increase the military preparation level of the eastern border of NATO and the EU. EU Transportation Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas says such military infrastructure development requires a cost of approximately 75 billion euros.
Early warning system
The “European Black Sea Sea Safety Center, which is planned to be established in the Black Sea, is aimed at both an early warning system and to protect the EU’s critical infrastructure against threats from the sea. Although the location and budget of the center have not yet been determined, this step; Apart from the EU’s NATO framework, it considers its will to integrate its geopolitical reflexes into the region.
Montreux Balance element
In the complex equation in question, the biggest trump card in Türkiye is the Montreux Straits Convention. ‘Türkiye, which is the only country with the authority to regulate the passage of warships from the Straits, prevents the United States and NATO from stinging unlimited maritime force into the Black Sea; It limits Russia’s disruption of balance. The Montreux Straits Convention limits the stay and tonnage of warships of non -coastal states in the Black Sea, while the entrance to the Black Sea; peace and war during the time of different rules. While this control mechanism allows Türkiye to protect the strategic balance in the region, NATO and the EU have recently turned into a serious test with the expectations of increasing military existence in the Black Sea.
Plan to go to the Black Sea
International Relations Specialist, who emphasized the risks of the EU’s intention to increase the military presence in the Black Sea. Dr. Hasan Köni, “Montreux, the most important argument in the face of all these geopolitical risks,” he says, the following determinations: “Thanks to the Montreux actor holding the lock of the game in the Black Sea. With the contract, the Black Sea, Anglo-Saxon sea power has become the region of the West, the warning of the War,” Türkiye’s effort to shape the independence of the war.
Why is Montreux critical?
The Montreux Straits Convention, which is currently in force, was signed on 20 July 1936 in Montreux, Switzerland. While the contract gives the control of the Çanakkale and Istanbul Straits to Türkiye, it brings strict rules of the passage of warships during the war and peace times. According to Montreux, countries that do not have a coast in the Black Sea can keep warships that do not exceed 30 thousand tons in the Black Sea for a maximum of 21 days. The countries that are on the shores of the Black Sea are obliged to make notification 15 days in advance to pass the ‘Turkish Straits’.
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