In brief
Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey condemned drone strikes on Black Sea merchant ships and pledged to set up a trilateral coordination mechanism. The meeting in Sofia included defence ministers and chiefs of defence, and cited a recent attack on a container ship southeast of Shabla. Both BTA and Türkiye Today reported the condemnation, while 1news.az highlighted the coordination initiative.
In Sofia on Tuesday, defence ministers from Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey condemned drone attacks on Black Sea merchant ships and pledged to form a trilateral coordination mechanism to safeguard navigation.
The talks, held at the Boyana Residence, brought together Bulgarian Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov and Admiral Emil Eftimov, Romanian Defence Minister Stefan‑Radu Oprea and Deputy Chief of Defence Dragos‑Dumitru Iacob, and Turkish Defence Minister Yaşar Güler and Chief of Defence Selçuk Bayraktaroglu. Stoyanov said the meeting followed recent drone attacks on vessels in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone and that the three states would seek a common position on independent measures to protect freedom of navigation.
The agreement was prompted by an incident in which a container ship was struck by three maritime drones about 21 nautical miles southeast of the Bulgarian coast town of Shabla. Stoyanov noted that the three countries would later decide on memoranda, including one on countering low‑flying threats and another on acquiring MICA surface‑to‑air missiles for patrol ships.
BTA reported the condemnation and the proposed coordination mechanism. Türkiye Today also echoed the joint condemnation of the drone attacks. 1news.az added that the three allies will step up coordination to protect commercial shipping amid the attacks, a detail reported only by that outlet.
