Romanian President Nicușor Dan said the Black Sea would only become safe after the end of Russia’s war in Ukraine, calling for greater NATO surveillance in the region following drone strikes on commercial ships in an interview with Euronews.
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“I am very optimistic that we will have the support and the capabilities to be better protected, because this is an important economic issue for Ukraine and for the whole region,” he said on the sidelines of the EU summit held on Friday in Brussels.
The Romanian leader said frequent drone incursions into his country’s territory began about a year and a half ago and that Bucharest was “not prepared.” The country now faces a similar lack of preparedness in the east, Dan said.
“In the Black Sea, we are in the same situation,” he said, adding: “We must protect the waters under our territory.”
He also expressed confidence in the continued support of US President Donald Trump, both for security in the Black Sea and for Romania’s position within the NATO military alliance.
“When it comes to defense, I think it’s a mutual benefit between us because we have a great position to project our forces to other parts of the world,” Dan said.
The confidence comes amid US President Donald Trump’s bellicose statements regarding Ukrainian and European security, such as reducing troops and reviewing force posture.
The president was in the Belgian capital for a quarterly summit attended by EU heads of state to discuss support for Ukraine, the bloc’s long-term budget and its growing trade deficit with China.
However, the increasingly hostile security situation in the Black Sea has pushed the Romanian leader and his Bulgarian counterpart, Prime Minister Rumen Radev, to include security threats among their priorities.
Dan told reporters after the summit that France was committed to “providing the necessary equipment” and “better understanding our specific needs in the Black Sea.”
“There are always new challenges, but fortunately Romania has allies,” he said.
The escalation of the situation also prompted a meeting between the two leaders and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to discuss greater support. During the negotiations, Bulgaria requested combat aircraft and anti-drone systems.
Rutte later said NATO would continue to strengthen its position along the eastern flank, including by expanding its counter-drone capabilities.
“NATO will continue to work closely with our allies in the Black Sea, adjusting our deterrence and defense posture as necessary,” he said in a statement on the X social media platform.
Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukrainian ports along the Black Sea and Danube, leaving the war-torn country dependent on alternative routes to sell its grain to markets in Africa and the Middle East.
However, this exposed European sea lanes to attack.
Drones damaged commercial ships in the Black Sea, off the coasts of Bulgaria and Romania, for three consecutive days before the Brussels meeting, as well as during the previous week. At least one ship sank after being attacked by drones last week, killing two sailors.
Neither Sofia nor Bucharest have definitively attributed responsibility for these attacks to Russia. However, Radev told reporters earlier in the week that “logic” would suggest the Kremlin stood to benefit from the deadly incursions.
“The problem is we can’t prove it,” he said.
Investigations into all incidents are ongoing.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday at a news conference following his meeting with European leaders that “there is no need for a ground war for an invasion to take place.”
He added that Russia was testing Europe’s response to the attacks, referring to incidents in the Black Sea as well as an explosives-laden drone discovered at a Leipzig airport.
“Violating another country’s airspace is already an incursion,” Zelenskyy said.
“We have seen drones crossing the airspace and borders in Romania, Poland and Germany. A matching drone was also found in Germany. Moldova and Bulgaria were also affected. A lot is happening today.”
Zelensky and other senior Ukrainian officials have publicly blamed Russia for some of those incidents, including a deadly drone attack that hit a ship carrying Ukrainian grain off the Bulgarian coast.
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