Defence Minister: Nato aircraft are expected to arrive in Bulgaria due to increased attacks on vessels
Nato partner aircraft are expected to arrive in Bulgaria due to the increased attacks on ships in the Black Sea, Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov told Bulgarian National Television in an interview on October 18.
In recent days, four merchant ships have been hit in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea, and two in Romania’s territorial waters. More than 20 sailors are still missing in the waters of the Black Sea after the October 6 and 13 drone attacks off the Bulgarian coast. Romanian Air Force F-16 fighter jets shot down two drones in Romanian airspace, over the country’s territorial waters, on October 17.
“Ships cannot enter the Black Sea because of Montreux and because of commitments that Türkiye made at the beginning of the war,” Stoyanov said.
“In this regard, it remains for us to deploy forces and resources on land, as well as in the air, to receive a picture of the actual situation as early as possible, so that we can react in the appropriate manner, including with our forces and resources that we have at our disposal,” he said.
“We are ready to meet any challenge. Admiral Eftimov is in direct contact with General Grinkevich,” Stoyanov said, referring respectively to Bulgaria’s Defence Chief and the officer commanding of US European Command and Nato Supreme Allied commander Europe (SACEUR).
“Soon you will see that there will be an aviation presence on our territories from a Nato member country,” Stoyanov said.
Stoyanov commented on the conclusions of the European Council of October 15-16, 2026, which condemned Russian attacks in the Black Sea, including near Bulgaria and Romania.
He said that the conclusions came out late on October 16 and he did not know if Prime Minister Roumen Radev (who attended the gathering in Brussels) had signed them. Radev and his government have been reluctant to lay the blame on Russia.
“There is no way we can block any EU position. Moreover, I do not know if it was signed by the Bulgarian Prime Minister. This news is from late Friday evening,” Stoyanov said.
“Bulgaria must use all possible levers, especially diplomacy, to try to resolve the conflict in our territorial waters and our economic zone. That is why I had talks with the defence ministers of Romania and Türkiye, and a trilateral meeting is expected soon to specify our common actions ,” Stoyanov said.
“If the European Council has up-to-date information proving the claim that the drones that hit ships in the Black Sea are Russian, let them provide it to us. I trust what the Bulgarian investigation into the Chelsea-3 ship will establish, so I expect the results to come out,” he said.
The Chelsea-3 vessel, one of those that has come under attack and was severely damaged, has been towed to Bourgas and is to be examined. Bulgaria’s military prosecutors have opened an investigation.
“Let me draw attention to the case in Germany at the airport with the drone, which turned out to be Russian. It took the German government 27, 28 days to say that this drone was Russian. They needed technological time,” Stoyanov said.
“In our country, our opposition leaders wanted us to say that the drone was Russian even before the event happened,” he said.
Stoyanov tried to downplay both the opposition’s pressure and the Cabinet’s decision to reconsider Nato’s anti-drone system, in which he initially refused to join, but later announced that he would submit documents for this purpose by the end of October.
Stoyanov commented that he may have a personal opinion, but he is waiting for expert opinions and then he will say whether the drone is Russian, Ukrainian or a third party, thus once again practically repeating the thesis that Russian ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova put forward in a conversation with Radev on October 13.
“If the drone turns out to be Russian, a note will most likely be handed to the Russian ambassador. What if it turns out to be Ukrainian ?” Stoyanov said.
