Global Research, December 17, 2019
Region: Europe, Russia and FSU
Theme: Intelligence, US NATO War Agenda
In a joint statement between NATO Secretary
General Jens Stoltenberg and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko
Borissov, the latter announced last Thursday that the Bulgarian Black Sea
city of Varna is a willing new home of NATO’s Naval Force Coordination Center.
NATO’s Maritime Headquarters is currently located in the United Kingdom, but
Stoltenberg thanked his Bulgarian counterpart for its “strong commitment” and
“strong focus” on so-called “Black Sea security.” By Black Sea security, it was
of course meant that they want to contain Russia.
As revealed by Stoltenberg, “NATO as an alliance has stepped up our
presence in the Black Sea region, in the air, on land, but also at sea, with
also more naval exercises.” The potential establishment of a NATO Coordination
Center on the Black Sea is an obvious attempt by the U.S.-led NATO to duplicate
infrastructure and missile systems in the region aimed against Russia and is
accelerating because of NATO’s complex relations with Turkey. Given
that they cannot control the Black Sea region on their own because of the
complex geopolitical situation, a NATO presence in Varna is very important as
it is close to Russia’s ports and Ukraine, in which the latter can be used
provocatively.
However, as NATO is aimed against Russia, Bulgaria now risks becoming a
legitimate target for Russian strategic forces. NATO hopes that by using
Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Georgia, all Black Sea countries, Russia can be
contained in the event that Turkey truly becomes rogue against the alliance and
does not block Russia from leaving the Black Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles.
These strategic straits are crucial for Russia’s maritime trade, and it is
expected by NATO that Turkey would block these water lanes in the event of a
hypothetical war against the Eurasian Giant.
NATO is working closely with Georgia that has openly announced its
desires to join NATO and is well on the path of becoming a member. On the
opposite side of the Black Sea and neighboring Bulgaria to the north is
Romania, whose air bases, are for U.S. use. In Ukraine, an American center
was built, which is basically a military base. Bulgaria’s latest desire for
American servitude shows that Washington’s interests are through all NATO
structures in all countries in the Black Sea region, besides
Turkey. Although Turkey has mostly been a loyal NATO member, its recent
independent policies under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has caused worry and
angst with leading NATO countries.
The 1936 Montreux Convention, which gives Turkey control of passage
through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, regulates the transit of naval
warships, but also guarantees the passage of civilian ships during
peacetime. Because of that convention and complicated relations with
Turkey, the possibility of a large number of U.S. warships being passed through
is precluded. For these reasons, Washington are looking for ways
to destroy that convention.
The truth remains that only Turkey and Greece have the
potential capability to block Russia in the Black Sea. It is for this reason
that the U.S. has turned to Greece as a Plan B. Although It may
appear at first that the combined strength of Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and
Georgia could be enough to contain Russia in the Black Sea, their combined
navies actually do not have the strength to challenge Russia in the Black Sea
without the participation of Turkey. However, Russia still faces significant
problems as not only it can be opposed in the Black Sea, but Russia will still
have to navigate into the Greek-controlled Aegean Sea. Any full NATO
participation against Russia in the Black Sea region will be highly problematic
for Moscow.
Therefore, with Bulgaria’s continued submission into NATO interests,
Russia will be forced to identify all of these facilities in Bulgaria, as well
as Romania and other countries, as legitimate military targets as the U.S. and
NATO have already put Russia in an unenviable position.
It remains to be seen how the general Bulgarian people view these latest
provocations considering that the root of Bulgarian independence from the
Ottoman yolk was only achieved because of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78)
and there is still strong Orthodox solidarity. However, with Bulgaria willingly
wanting to open a NATO Naval Center on its territory, and the country’s
political establishment being controlled by Atlanticists, it is unlikely
that Bulgaria will retract from its anti-Russian agenda anytime soon.
Regardless, the opening of a NATO Naval Command Center on the Black Sea will be
a serious concern and one that Moscow’s policymakers must immediately consider.
*
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This article was originally published on InfoBrics.
Paul Antonopoulos is a Research
Fellow at the Center for Syncretic Studies.
Featured image is from InfoBrics
The original source of this article is Global Research
Copyright © Paul Antonopoulos, Global Research, 2019
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