European Parliament urges EU to consider Black Sea naval operation
In a 432-vote resolution, lawmakers held Russia responsible for attacks on civilian ships and called for more help for Romania and Bulgaria to counter drones.
Symbolic image · Photo: Mehr Demokratie / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped and resized)
The European Parliament has called on the EU to consider a naval operation in the Black Sea. The resolution was adopted in Strasbourg on Thursday by 432 votes to 52, with 88 abstentions. Lawmakers hold Russia responsible for deadly attacks on civilian vessels off Bulgaria and Romania, describing them as an extension of Russia's war against Ukraine. They also condemned repeated violations of Romanian airspace.
The EU and NATO countries should help Romania and Bulgaria detect and track drones threatening shipping, the text says, with unused funds from the SAFE defence instrument redirected for that purpose. NATO is asked to consider a separate Black Sea initiative building on the "Black Sea Sentry" concept. Parliament also called for the faster creation of a European maritime security centre for the Black Sea, closer cooperation between Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, and better protection of undersea cables.
The resolution criticises the Bulgarian government's diplomatic response to the Russian threat as not decisive enough and urges Sofia to take a more active part in NATO counter-drone efforts. According to Italian daily La Repubblica, Italy's Five Star Movement voted against the text.