NATO ships on tour in the Black Sea

(B2) The Canadian frigate HMCS Toronto (FFH 333) and the Spanish frigate ESPS Santa Maria (F 81) who are currently participating in the Standing NATO Maritime Grouping, Number 2 (SNMG2), visited the Ukrainian port of Odessa, during a " routine visit ", after several days of exercise in the Black Sea, announces in a  communicated NATO Maritime Command (Marcom).

At the same time, the Dutch building HNLMS Evertsen — who currently commands SNMG2 —, accompanied by Turkish frigates TCG Yildirim, Romanian ROS Regele Ferdinand and Bulgarian BGS Drazki, reached the Georgian port of Poti (Georgia) for a stopover.

NB: This type of port visit is regular. For NATO, in the middle of a meeting of Foreign Ministers in Washington, it is a question of emphasizing their solidarity with these two countries (Georgia and Ukraine) of the former Soviet bloc which are interested in joining the Atlantic Alliance and to demonstrate their desire to remain present in the Black Sea.

(RM with NGV)