EU Puts Funding Into New Maritime Security Center for the Western Black Sea
The European Union plans to invest EUR50 million to build a joint Romanian-Bulgarian maritime security hub for the Black Sea region. The plan responds to a wave of attacks on Ukraine-linked shipping in the western waters of the Black Sea; Ukraine, the EU and Romania have attributed the attacks to Russia, but Bulgaria has declined to name a suspect.
The new security hub will be tasked with supporting trade, protecting critical infrastructure and sharing information between Romania and Bulgaria, according to Euronews, and it should be completed and ready by the end of the year. The funds for the center are paired with an additional EUR10 million to support SAR operations.
Between the suspected Russian attacks in the sea's western reaches and the previous surge of Ukrainian attacks in the Sea of Azov and northeastern Black Sea, about 40 seafarers have been killed in strikes on more than 500 ships this year, according to the FT. The death toll is even steeper than that in the contested Strait of Hormuz.
On Monday, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen called for swift implementation of the maritime security hub and for strengthened collaboration between the authorities in Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. "The skies over the Black Sea have darkened, particularly in recent weeks, with drone attacks targeting commercial ships off your coasts, innocent sailors having lost their lives," Von der Leyen said in an address reported by Yeni Safak.
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Ukraine and Russia both claim responsibility for strikes on civilian shipping in the Black Sea region, and Romania has adopted a policy of acknowledging the source odf Russian attacks. Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev has blamed his Romanian counterparts for laying public accusations at Moscow's feet, and even suggested that the pace of recent attacks had increased because Romania made public accusations against the Russian military.
"The political leadership in Romania came forward and said 'we have no evidence, but we know very well that Russia is responsible for these attacks and we condemn them categorically.' What happened? Two ships, one of them just a few days ago, were hit and sunk in the most defiant way possible in Romanian territorial waters," said Radev late last month, seeming to link Romania's statements with the attacks.
