Russia seeks broader cooperation between BSEC, EU - ministry

MOSCOW, December 10. /TASS/. Moscow will assist extending partnership between the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) and the European Union, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. "Russia is ready to pursue the line towards widening cooperation between the BSEC and the EU on an equal and mutually beneficial basis in such areas as transport, environmental protection, innovations, information technologies, anti-terrorism fight and organized crime," the ministry said. Russia will take over the rotating chairmanship in the organization from Romania in the first half of the next year. At the meeting of the organization’s foreign ministers’ council on Friday in Romania’s capital Bucharest, Russia’s delegation will be led by Deputy Foreign Minister Vasily Nebenzya. The priority areas of cooperation in the near future will be to develop transport infrastructure, regional tourism, small and medium-sized business, healthcare sector, agriculture, dealing with the aftermaths of emergency situations and cooperation of law enforcement agencies of the member-states, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. The ministry stressed that preserving the organization’s non-politicized character is an important condition for its dynamic development. This position is shared by the majority of the member-states, including Russia. The organization will also cooperate with the UN agencies which have huge experience in developing recommendations and implementing particular projects in the BSEC member-states in the economic sphere. The BSEC is an international economic organization of 12 countries from the wider Black Sea area (Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine). Read more