Bulgaria’s Defence Minister: No new operations planned to investigate ship sunk in the Black Sea

No new operations are planned to investigate the ship sunk in the Black Sea, Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said on October 12, quoted by Bulgarian National Radio.

Cargo vessel the Alfa Watan was sunk on October 6 in Bulgaria’s Black Sea exclusive economic zone, with the apparent loss of all hands, while another cargo ship, the Able, also came under attack and was severely damaged. The Able’s crew was rescued.

Stoyanov said that Bulgaria would again like Nato to assist with radar equipment in the defense of the Black Sea.

“We have only made one request from Nato since the drone crashed near Kardam. We requested increased surveillance of our airspace with radar equipment in order to have situational awareness.”

“We currently have no response from them, so we will make a new request,” Stoyanov said.

As The Sofia Globe reported, on October 9 two paratroopers were landed on the Able in a 30-minute operation, following which Stoyanov said that no drone debris had been found. Bulgaria’s government has declined to apportion blame for the attack on the vessels, in spite of the widespread belief that the only likely culprit is Russia.

The Alfa Watan is said to lie about two km down in the Black Sea.

Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev, speaking on October 12, said that Bulgaria was doing everything necessary and possible so that itmaritime border is reliably protected and serves as a benchmark as the external border of the European Union and the Eastern Flank of Nato.

“We are doing a lot of things. This is not a matter for Bulgaria. This is a matter within Nato, this is a matter within the European Union, and we are working extremely actively in both structures to strengthen the capacity of Nato and the European Union as a whole, including Bulgaria, in order to operate more successfully in the Black Sea,” Demerdzhiev said, according to a report by BNR.

“The threats are much more serious at the moment in view of the war in Ukraine. We recognise that they will remain serious until the end of the war in Ukraine, so we aim to acquire much more reliable, much more serious equipment, including additional ships, equipment, anti-drone systems,” he said.

“We are negotiating with partners about this, since there is not enough finance in our budget,” Demerdzhiev said.

Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova, speaking in Luxembourg where EU foreign ministers are holding a regular meeting with Russia’s aggression among agenda items, said that the Black Sea should be considered not only as a regional issue, but also as a concern for all EU and Nato countries.

It must be clear how safer shipping will be achieved, especially for merchant ships, Petrova said, adding that such attacks have already occurred in Bulgaria and Romania.

“Such an initiative for a moratorium on attacks on merchant ships was also taken by France, with whom we are conducting a dialogue, because this will be very important,” Petova said.

“Working on individual attacks and incidents is one issue, but more important is how to resolve it from the outset. You saw that there are beginnings to stop the fire on energy structures,” she said.

“We have witnessed a number of actions that show the escalation and spread of war in the region. This is extremely worrying. We are firmly determined to establish the truth, but also to act together,” Petrova said.