The August 2008 activation of the BLACKSEAFOR will be completed August 24, in Constanta.

Ukrainian Slavutich Command-ship, Bulgarian Smeli frigate, Romanian Contraamiral Eustatiu Sebastian corvette, Russian Azov landing ship, and Turkish Orucreis frigate will arrive in the military port of Constanta, August 22, in the morning.

During the stopover, BLACKSEAFOR members will take part in workshops, quay training sessions, and in visits of the Fleet Command, Constanta City Hall and Constanta county hall.

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Background information: BLACKSEAFOR is conceived as an on-demand force capability and is activated twice a year. The command of the force is based on a rotation principle, according to the initial protocol, by the six force contributors' riparian states of the Black Sea: Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russian Federation, Ukraine and Turkey.

During this activation stage, Ukraine took over the command from Turkey for the following 12 months, in a ceremony held in Sevastopol port.

More information about BLACK SEAFOR can be found at www.blackseafor.org

MoD Press Office