In brief
Bulgarian Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said a coordination mechanism would be proposed between Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey to speed up responses to Black Sea incidents. The talks, held in Sofia, also included decisions on counter‑low‑flying‑threat projects and MICA surface‑to‑air missiles. The ministers condemned recent drone attacks on merchant vessels in the Black Sea.
Bulgaria, Romania and Turkiye will propose a new coordination mechanism to accelerate responses to security incidents in the Black Sea, Bulgarian Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov announced on Wednesday in Sofia.
Stoyanov said the three countries required a joint platform to react more swiftly to situations involving freedom of navigation and maritime security, and that the mechanism would allow them to make sound, timely decisions in complex events. The proposal will be discussed in the trilateral talks chaired by the Sofia‑based Minister of Defence, with the three presidents expected to speak after the plenary session.
The Council of Ministers is set to decide on two memoranda that day: one on Bulgaria's participation in a project to counter low‑flying threats, and another on acquiring MICA surface‑to‑air missiles for its patrol ships. These measures were cited by both BTA reports as part of the broader security agenda.
Following the meeting, Stoyanov said the three defence ministries unequivocally condemned drone attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea, a statement that appeared in the second BTA article. The condemnation came after a container ship was struck by three maritime drones about 21 nautical miles southeast of Shabla in an earlier incident.
All six ministers—Bulgarian, Romanian and Turkish—attended the talks, along with their respective chiefs of defence, including Admiral Emil Eftimov, Lieutenant General Dragos‑Dumitru Iacob and General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu. The discussion focused exclusively on the independent measures the three states could take to ensure the freedom of navigation, and no memorandum directed at any external state was considered at this stage, according to Stoyanov.
