“One of the foundations of global security is located in the Black Sea”

The 62nd General Assembly Meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) was held in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.

Representatives of the PABSEC member states attended the meeting, chaired by the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk.

At the opening of the meeting, where Turkey was represented by AK Party Eskişehir Deputy Fatih Dönmez and his accompanying delegation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made a speech via video conference.

Zelenskiy stated that the Black Sea is of great importance and said, “The Black Sea is one of the foundations of global security. Our people, together with our partners, are the guarantors of this security.” made his assessment.

Stating that Russia took “aggressive” actions against the international order in the Black Sea, Zelenskiy said, “Russia used its military infrastructure for many years to disrupt the normal life of various peoples in Crimea. Russia used the Black Sea in its aggression against Georgia in 2008, “He used it to incite war and chaos in the Middle East, especially in Syria. The hybrid war against Ukraine and all of Europe began with the capture of Crimea.” said.

Zelenskiy stated that Russia tried to use the Black Sea region against the whole world with the start of the war and said, “Russia blockaded our ports and deliberately destroyed our port and export infrastructure in order to disrupt the global food market and thus provoke new chaos in various parts of the world.” he said.

Emphasizing that cooperation between the countries of the Black Sea region with the support of partners shows that stability in the global food market can be restored, Zelenskiy said:

“We have been able to ensure security in the western part of the Black Sea, and this ensures the functioning of our maritime export corridors. The Danube region, which is critical for global food security, is now also gaining importance. In the Black Sea, we were able to take the initiative from Russia and force the aggressor to escape from the eastern part of the sea and destroy his warships.” “For the first time in the world, the Ukrainian fleet of unmanned marine vehicles began to operate in the Black Sea. Russia can no longer use the Black Sea to destabilize the situation in other parts of the world. This is one of our most important achievements.”

Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed his gratitude to all country leaders who help maintain international order and guarantee peace and security and said, “I would like to thank our neighbors in the region, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova, for standing by global security.” he said.

Emphasizing the importance of cooperation in the Black Sea region, Zelenskiy stated that the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization should be revitalized and activated and said, “It is important to use this platform to integrate the Black Sea region into the global security and economy area and to restore fair peace.” said.