Romania offers Bulgaria that the two countries send a joint letter to the NATO leadership requesting the creation of a military command for security in the Black Sea. The idea envisages that the structure will be led on a rotational basis by the Black Sea member states of the Alliance.
Romanian Defense Minister Radu Mircuță said that Bucharest is ready to take the first leadership and assume command of its Black Sea coast from 2028. Until then, Romania allows it to temporarily operate on the Turkish Black Sea coast, with the participation of Romanian and Bulgarian officers. The proposal is separate from the already existing formats for cooperation between Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey in the Black Sea.
The Ukrainian Navy welcomed the initiative
The spokesman for the Ukrainian Navy, Dmytro Pletenchuk, described the initiative as welcome. He commented on the topic on the air of the Ukrainian telethon and indicated that the possible accession of Kiev is a matter of the more distant future.
According to him, the proposal concerns not only the military sphere, but also the politics, logistics and export capacity of the countries in the region. He added that the Ukrainian Navy maintains constant contact with neighboring countries and partners.
A series of attacks on commercial ships
The idea for a new command comes after a series of incidents with civilian vessels in the Black Sea. On October 6, two ships were attacked with drones in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone, east of Cape St. Atanas and the town of Byala.
The ships hit were the ALFA WATAN, flying the flag of Togo, and the ABLE, registered under the flag of Palau. The ALFA WATAN sank after sustaining severe hull damage, and a fire broke out on board the ABLE, after which the crew abandoned the ship. Sailors were killed and injured in the attacks. There have also been reports of damaged vessels in Romanian territorial waters.
The Romanian Defense Minister linked the need for a common response to incidents involving drones, sunken ships and sea mines. According to him, risks to air and maritime security can no longer be considered as separate national problems.
At this stage, this is a proposal that needs to be discussed with NATO. There is no public decision by the Alliance to create the new command.
Sources: news.bg, agerpres.ro, apnews.com