Black Sea NATO states step up Naval defences

Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey agreed on Wednesday during a NATO summit to expand a joint task force that clears mines floating ​in the Black Sea to include missions to protect critical ‌infrastructure, Bucharest's defence ministry said.

The three NATO states, which share the Black Sea with Georgia, Russia and Ukraine, formed the de-mining task force in 2024 to counter the ​threat of floating mines after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Since ​then, it has neutralised more than 150 mines floating in ⁠the Black Sea across crucial trade lanes, with Turkey handling the ​bulk of them.

At the alliance's summit in Ankara, they have agreed to ​expand their missions to include critical infrastructure, including energy, telecoms and undersea pipelines.

All three countries have gas exploration or production projects in the Black Sea. Romanian offshore gas project Neptun ​Deep is due to come onstream in 2027, making Romania the ​European Union's largest gas producer.

"Protecting critical infrastructure in the Black Sea requires a complex, ‌integrated, ⁠and long-term approach," Romania's Defence Ministry said in a statement.

"Through missions carried out by the Romanian Naval Forces alongside regional partners, a permanent naval presence is maintained within the area of responsibility — including throughout Romania's entire ​Exclusive Economic Zone — serving ​not only ⁠as a deterrent but also as a tool for immediate response."

Romania shares a 650 km (400 mile) land border ​with Ukraine and has seen Russian drones repeatedly breach ​its airspace ⁠over the last four years, as well as mines floating in the Black Sea across key trade and energy routes.

In May, a Russian drone crashed into an ⁠apartment ​building in southeastern Romania, injuring two people, ​the first time a densely populated area in a NATO country had been hit causing injuries ​during Russia's war in Ukraine.

-Reuters