Incidents at the Black Sea on the rise
The security situation at the Black Sea, with Romania as a coastal state, is this week on the agendas of both NATO and the European Parliament
Florentin Căpitănescu, 19.10.2026, 14:00
Six drones that entered the national airspace have been shot down while fragments from 44 others have been discovered and neutralized on Romania’s territory this year alone, the Defence Ministry in Bucharest has announced.
The last two drones, of Russian-manufactured Geran type, were shot down by F-16 jet fighters of the Romanian Air Force over the Black Sea last week, shortly after they had entered Romania’s territorial waters.
The incident took place days after two tankers used for chemical shipping had been hit by drones, close to the Romanian Black Sea coast, the latest in a series of attacks highlighting the risks for commercial navigation on NATO’s eastern Flank. Both vessels were lying at anchor close to the Sulina Canal linking Danube to the Black Sea, which is also an export waterway for the neighbouring Ukraine.
Several such commercial vessels have been hit close to Romania’s and Bulgaria’s borders in the past two weeks, but most of these incidents have taken place outside NATO’s territorial borders.
In fact a meeting of the North-Atlantic Council devoted to the security situation in the Black Sea area is to be held on October 20 upon Romania’s request. NATO is to hold talks on the situation created as the number of drone attacks against commercial vessels close to Romania’s and Bulgaria’s borders is on the rise, and in some cases it caused their sinking and even the death of crew members.
The aforementioned NATO session comes after the recent meeting in Brussels between Romanian President, Nicușor Dan, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister, Rumen Radev, and NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, who says the Alliance will adjust its defence and deterrence posture at the Black Sea.
Although neither Romania nor Bulgaria want to invoke Article 4, which is a mechanism of political consultation and conflict prevention, President Nicusor Dan says that Bucharest wants the consolidation of NATO military capabilities in the Black Sea area.
The escalation of drone attacks, mainly against maritime transportation in the Black Sea, has also caught the attention of the MEPs convened in a plenary session in Strasbourg.
These are expected to hold talks on the situation with the EU Foreign Policy Chief, Kaja Kallas on Tuesday, and vote on a resolution two days later. According to a European Parliament communiqué, Russian planes and unmanned aerial vehicles have repeatedly violated the airspace of several member states in the past months.
(bill)
