Prime Minister Rumen Radev said that he was the only prime minister of the three attacked Black Sea countries to summon the Russian ambassador over the drone attacks in the region. He made his statement at the Sofia Economic Forum, where he emphasized security in the Black Sea.
“I was the only prime minister to summon the Russian ambassador out of the three attacked countries in the Black Sea“, Radev said.
According to him, Romania has indicated that Russia is behind the drone attacks in the Black Sea, after which new attacks against ships in the country's exclusive economic zone followed. Radev said that the fastest solution must be found because of the attacks.
Between October 5 and 23, eight commercial ships were hit or had incidents related to drone attacks near Bulgaria and Romania.
The first case was on October 5, when a ship sank in the Romanian exclusive economic zone. On October 6, two ships were attacked about 70 nautical miles from Byala. On October 13, two more vessels had incidents 17 nautical miles from Byala and Shabla.
On October 14 and 15, incidents were registered near the Romanian city of Sulina. On October 23, the ship “Horiv“ sank near Constanta.
Radev said that the actions of the Bulgarian sailors and rescue teams were quick, professional and courageous. According to him, Bulgaria has shown that it can fulfill its international obligations.
“The Allies have reacted. We expect more support. We did everything possible to withdraw the ship “Chelsea 3“ in bad weather conditions in order to conduct a quick investigation“, said the Prime Minister.
According to him, Bulgarian ports and territorial waters are calm for shipping. Radev defined the European Union and NATO as “the anchor of our security“.