Black Sea Security & Regional Counter- Trafficking Cooperation

This program is designed to enhance cooperation and assistance between NATO and Partner countries in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation zone (BSEC) in support of border control efforts to detect, deter and interdict illicit trafficking in weapons of mass destruction.

The Black Sea is a vital strategic crossroads between Europe, Central Asia and middle east. Comprising at least ten countries, with diverse religious, cultural, political and economic backgrounds, the region was shaped historically by centuries of conflict between Ottoman and Russian empires, and in 20th century by the rise and dramatic collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent post –Cold War emergency of newly independent states. The region faces emerging security challenges of major international strategic interest, not least because 80% of all Russia gas destined for Europe transits through the Black Sea states. The nexus for unresolved territorial conflicts which have led to the establishment of intractable guerrilla regimes, the region is also a hotbed of illicit trafficking in counterfeit goods, drugs, weapon and radioactive material from discarded former Soviet facilities.

The workshop assessed border control/counter trafficking challenges and shortfalls in the Black Sea Region, and identified means to enhance international strategic and technical cooperation between Black Sea states with regards to customs and other related national authorities.

The workshop was part of the ongoing program of activities of the Illicit Trafficking Working Group established in 2002 at the International Approaches to Nuclear and Radiological Security Conference in London with support from the US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Russian Federation’s Ministry of Atomic Energy (MinAtom) and the Kurchatov Institute.

The working group convened in September 2004 under NATO auspices at Norton Manor, UK for the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Illicit Trafficking in Weapons of Mass Destruction (http://www.nato.int/science/news/2004/n040910a.htm).

At the conclusion of the Norton Manor workshop, the working group recommended holding a follow-on NATO workshop focused on enhancing NATO and Partner Country cooperation in the Black Sea Region.