Black Sea Forum for Partnership and Dialogue

The inaugural session of the Black Sea Forum for Partnership and Dialogue (BSF) was held on June 4–6, 2006 in Bucharest. The Forum is a Romanian initiative, initially meant to hold annual presidential-level summits (the venues rotating among participant countries) and thematic or sectoral-cooperation meeting during those annual intervals. The Forum is not meant to create new regional institutions, but rather to turn into a regular consultative process among countries of the extended Black Sea region (defined as including the South Caucasus to the Caspian Sea) and between this group of countries and international organizations such as the European Union. After the inaugural summit, no other summits were planned.

After Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU the Forum may become an EU initiative for cooperation with the Black and Caspian Sea states similar to the Northern Dimension initiative for the Nordic countries and Baltic Sea states.

Membership

Black Sea

The Black Sea is a sea between Southeastern Europe and Western Asia. It is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, and drains through the Mediterranean into the Atlantic Ocean, via the Aegean Sea and various straits. The Bosphorus Strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the Strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean Sea region of the Mediterranean. These waters separate eastern Europe and western Asia. The Black Sea is also connected to the Sea of Azov by the Strait of Kerch.

The Black Sea has an area of 436,400 km² (168,500 sq mi) (not including the Sea of Azov), a maximum depth of 2,212 m (7,257 ft), and a volume of 547,000 km³ (131,000 cu mi). The Black Sea forms in an east-west trending elliptical depression which lies between Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. It is constrained by the Pontic Mountains to the south and by the Caucasus Mountains to the east, and features a wide shelf to the northwest. The longest east-west extent is about 1,175 km (730 mi).

Black Sea (film)

Black Sea is a 2014 American-British adventure thriller film directed by Kevin Macdonald, written by Dennis Kelly, and starring Jude Law. The film was released in the United Kingdom on 5 December 2014 and in the United States on 23 January 2015.

Plot

Robinson (Jude Law), a veteran captain of under-sea salvage who is recently divorced and estranged from his young son, receives news that he is to be made redundant. He receives £8,000 for his services and is asked to clean his desk and leave the premises.

Later, while having a drink with some former colleagues, Robinson meets up with his friend Kurston and a Russian called Blackie (Konstantin Khabensky). Kurston informs the duo of a surefire way to make money. He tells them about a German Type VIICU-boat from World War II that sank off the coast of the country of Georgia with a cargo of gold worth millions and how their former employer found the U-boat's location but was unable to salvage it due to the Russo-Georgian War. He also informs them both of a plan he has been working on to secretly recover the gold. After meeting with Kurston, Robinson agrees to meet with an unknown backer called Lewis.

Black Sea (XTC album)

Black Sea is the fourth studio album by the English band XTC, released on 12 September 1980. It spawned five singles—"Generals and Majors" (released 9 August 1980 and reached No. 32 on the UK singles chart and No. 104 on the Billboard Pop chart), "Towers of London" (released 10 October 1980 and reached No. 31 on the UK singles chart), "Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)" (released 5 December 1980 and reached No. 16 on the UK singles chart), "Love at First Sight" (released 23 January 1981 in Canada only) and a re-recording of "Respectable Street" (released 13 March 1981).

The album reached No. 16 on the UK album chart, No. 41 on the Billboard U.S. album chart and No. 1 on the New Zealand album chart.

Early copies of the album came with the sleeve enclosed in a lime-green paper bag. There was an additional version that came packaged in a black plastic bag with the XTC logo in silver printed on one side.

The band's name is hidden in the cover artwork. The seagull, ship's mast and moon spell out XTC.