Abstract

The Black Sea region has been of great interest since Antiquity, not only for the riparians, but for any power that understood the importance of trade routes. The connection with the Mediterranean caused the importance of the Straits to arouse the interest of the powerful Empires of the time. The Black Sea has evolved from a “Turkish lake” to neutrality. The contemporary era brought the internationalization of the Straits but also the maximum interests of two of the riparians in controlling the region: Turkey and Russia. The importance of the area is similarly and selfishly valued. Turkey equates the Straits with national territory, and the Montreux Convention is the document on whose observance the balance of the area depends. Russia exhibits hegemonic tendencies and considers at least the eastern part of the Black Sea to be within its sphere of influence. The appearance of the North Atlantic Alliance, the acceptance of Turkey as its member, changed the balance of forces in the region. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the expansion of NATO to the east, 3 of the 6 riparian countries are members of the Alliance. The Russian Federation consistently opposed enlargement and gradually drew an imaginary “red line” over which it was unwilling to cross: inviting Ukraine and Georgia to join the Alliance. Currently, neither Turkey nor the Russian Federation is happy about actions by third parties that would rob them of their “sovereignty”. While Turkey is belligerent to the intentions of anyone with a security initiative in the Black Sea (including NATO allies, even the United States), the Russian Federation considered that crossing the “red line” (bringing NATO closer to its borders through eventual accession of Ukraine) must be punished with war.