The Ministry of Defense reacted swiftly, on time and very adequately, so that there is not the slightest danger to Bulgarian citizens, said President Iliana Yotova regarding the Ukrainian sea drone that exploded in the Romanian port of Constanta.
She explained that they were in close coordination with all our Romanian and Ukrainian services the whole time.
"I think we did very well this time", she summarized the situation and added: "I really hope this is just a one-off incident, because the tourist season is starting and we are obliged to make it go as smoothly as possible for Bulgaria".
On Friday, a Ukrainian sea drone, carrying out a mission in the Black Sea, went out of control and veered towards the Romanian coast. Ukraine warned Romanian authorities about the incident. Romania reported that a naval drone exploded near the port in the city of Constanta, southeastern Romania. The Ministry of National Defense, quoted by the press service, said that the exploded drone was “of the type used in the war in Ukraine“ and detonated itself at around 10:30 a.m. local (and Bulgarian time), causing no casualties. The ministry's statement specified that the object was not part of the Romanian army's armament and had not participated in recent exercises organized by the Ministry of National Defense in the Black Sea region.
The head of state attended the conference “Towards Shared Regional Security for Peace, Stability and Cooperation in the Balkans and the Black Sea“, organized by the “Friedrich Ebert“ Foundation and the Institute of Economics and International Relations.