Radev calls Erdoğan and Niculescu: Joint push for free navigation in Black Sea
Bulgaria, Turkey and Romania plan to expand their joint initiatives. The two discussed Radev's proposed moratorium on attacks against merchant ships.
Archive image · Photo: Rory Arnold / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped and resized)
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev spoke by phone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday. The two countries will strengthen their bilateral initiatives and those run jointly with Romania to ensure free navigation in the Black Sea, BNT reported. Erdoğan expressed sympathy over the drone attacks on merchant ships in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone. They discussed the position that the moratorium on military strikes against commercial shipping in the Black Sea, which Radev proposed at the European Council, was a reasonable and possible way out.
Radev and Erdoğan also discussed increasing capacity at border crossings and improving connections, including with EU funding. Radev invited Erdoğan to a high-level meeting in Sofia early next year. It is to be held under the auspices of the European Commission and focus on connecting Europe with Central Asia.
On the same day, Radev congratulated Romania's newly elected Prime Minister Luca Niculescu by phone. According to BNT, the two confirmed their readiness to step up cooperation on shipping security in the Black Sea, including together with Turkey. They named transport, energy and infrastructure as further priorities. Radev invited Niculescu to visit Bulgaria.