In brief
On 28 October 2026, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey condemned drone attacks on Black Sea merchant vessels and agreed to set up a trilateral coordination mechanism to enhance security and freedom of navigation. The talks, held at the Boyana Residence in Sofia, saw defence ministers and chiefs of defence from the three nations discuss counter‑low‑flying‑threat initiatives and the procurement of new missile systems for patrol ships.
In Sofia on Wednesday, defence ministers and chiefs of defence from Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey gathered at the Boyana Residence to condemn recent drone attacks on merchant vessels in the Black Sea and to discuss a trilateral coordination mechanism. Bulgarian Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov, Romanian Defence Minister Stefan‐Radu Oprea, and Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler were among the attendees, joined by Admiral Emil Eftimov, Lieutenant General Dragos‐Dumitru Iacob and General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu.
Stoyanov said the talks were prompted by attacks on merchant ships in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone a week or two earlier. He added that a coordination mechanism between the three states would be proposed to facilitate a faster response to developments affecting Black Sea security, with measures to be made public only after agreement with the Romanian and Turkish sides.
The ministers unanimously condemned drone attacks on commercial vessels, including a recent incident in which a container ship was struck by three maritime drones approximately 21 nautical miles southeast of Shabla, a Bulgarian Black Sea coastal town. The declaration of condemnation was echoed by Turkish reports, which described the tragedy as a shared concern and reiterated the commitment to strengthen regional security cooperation.
Stoyanov also noted that the Council of Ministers was expected to decide on two memoranda that day: one concerning Bulgaria’s participation in a project to counter low‑flying threats, and another on the acquisition of MICA surface‑to‑air missiles for the country’s patrol ships. The details of these memoranda remain unconfirmed, as they are pending further deliberation.
