EU Commission President visits Black Sea countries as tensions rise over drone attack

“The most dangerous maritime shipping route”… Last month, 7 merchant ships were hit, 2 people were killed and 25 were missing.

(Brussels = Yonhap News) Correspondent Hyun Yun-kyung = The head of the European Union (EU) will visit Bulgaria and Romania early next week, where tensions are rising over a series of drone attacks targeting ships operating in the Black Sea.

Citing EU Commission officials, Politico Europe reported on the 6th that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will stop by Romania and Bulgaria before attending the 31st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31), which opens in Antalya, Turkey on the 9th (local time).

On the 8th, Chairman von der Leyen will meet with Romanian President Nicusor Dan and Prime Minister Luca Niculescu in Bucharest to discuss the security situation. The next day, he will travel to Varna, Bulgaria, to meet with Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev and also visit the local Naval Academy.

In the Black Sea waters near Romania and Bulgaria, at least seven commercial ships were hit by drones last month alone, leaving two sailors dead and at least 25 missing.

Romania blamed Russia for the series of attacks on merchant ships and warned that the recent series of attacks showed that Russia's attacks targeting Ukraine are increasing. On the other hand, Bulgaria, where pro-Russian Prime Minister Radev is in power, does not officially point out Russia, but only mentions that the drone came from the "eastern direction."

“The Black Sea has now become the most dangerous shipping route in the world,” said an EU Commission official who requested anonymity, suggesting that Chairman von der Leyen's visit was due to the security crisis that the five-year-old Ukraine war is threatening to extend to EU member states' territories.

Meanwhile, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies have also strengthened surveillance activities in the Black Sea to protect Black Sea merchant ships.

According to Bulgarian broadcasting company bTV, reconnaissance aircraft from Italy, the UK, and the US were spotted simultaneously carrying out reconnaissance missions over the Black Sea on the 3rd, and France also extended the operation period of its maritime patrol aircraft deployed in Romania.