Bulgaria’s Defence Minister holds talks with Turkish, Romanian counterparts on security in Black Sea after latest drone attacks

Bulgaria’s Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov spoke by phone on October 13 with Romania’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Radu-Dinel Miruță and with Türkiye’s Minister of National Defence Yaşar Güler, the Defence Ministry said.

The main topic of both conversations was the security environment in the Black Sea region in light of the incidents overnight, in which two merchant ships were hit, the ministry said.

Stoyanov said that the Bulgarian government condemns the attacks on merchant ships in the Black Sea as a gross violation of international maritime law.

“The situation in the Black Sea is becoming increasingly complex and requires us as allies to take strengthened, coordinated actions,” Stoyanov said.

“Ensuring security and freedom of navigation in the region is of common interest and our common responsibility. Only through effective information exchange, enhanced surveillance and close coordination can we respond to the growing risks and protect security in the Black Sea,” he said.

He called on his colleagues for joint actions to strengthen surveillance and intelligence exchange between the three countries and Nato structures, the Defence Ministry said.

The three ministers expressed their readiness to deepen cooperation and take coordinated actions to protect shipping security in the Black Sea region, the statement said.

In the attacks, the second such in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea in a week, one ship was sunk and another severely damaged.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Roumen Radev called an emergency meeting of the Cabinet security council, after which he held talks with Russian ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova and Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte.

Radev emphasised that Bulgaria does not have definitive evidence of the origin of the drones used in the attacks, “but there is no logic for Ukraine to destroy its own ships, and the results of these strikes are in favour of Russia”. Radev and members of his government have been reluctant to pin the blame for the attacks on Russia.

President Ilana Yotova said that Bulgaria strongly condemned the attacks on merchant ships in the Black Sea. Her statement, on the presidency website, made no mention of Russia.

Opposition groups in Parliament have called for the Russian ambassador to be handed a protest note and for a hearing of the Prime Minister and security and intelligence chiefs on the attacks and the security situation in the Black Sea.

(Photo: Ministry of Defence)