The EU Commission allocates 10 million to Romania to support operations in the Black Sea

Brussels – The EU is to allocate 10 million to “search and rescue operations” carried out by the Romanian government off the coast bordering the Black Sea. This was announced today (9 November) by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, while visiting Bucharest as part of her “Black Sea tour”, a mission that follows the Kremlin’s drone attacks on several merchant ships off the Bulgarian and Romanian coasts, where, in recent months, Russian aircraft and drones have repeatedly violated the airspace of several EU Member States. The financial aid pledged today “will help strengthen your capacity to respond swiftly and effectively” to such attacks, the President explained. 

During a press conference, von der Leyen announced that “in agreement with Romania and Bulgaria, we will speed up work on the Maritime Safety Centre in the Black Sea, setting a clear timetable for its completion and allocating dedicated funding of €50 million”. The President clarified that the idea had been “first put forward in mid-2025,” but that, since last year, “the security situation has deteriorated much more rapidly than any of us had anticipated.” 

In addition to these two initiatives, von der Leyen discussed the matter with the President of Romania, Nicușor Dan,

on the need to bring an end to the war in Ukraine. For this reason, “I welcome the peace talks to be held tomorrow in Abu Dhabi, which will also be attended by a European delegation”, she added. 

Another issue concerns “the strengthening of maritime surveillance,” which includes “the use of satellite imagery provided by the Copernicus programme” – the European Earth observation and monitoring programme, managed by the European Commission in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) and other partners – described as “a tangible added value that Europe is able to offer the region immediately.” 

The meeting’s agenda also included “security in the information space,” which represents not “merely a communication challenge, but a security risk,” the President clarified. Von der Leyen reported that “hostile actors are turning the information space into a weapon; incidents involving drones are often accompanied by information manipulation and interference from external actors.” 

Finally, “strengthening our defence capabilities.” The head of the Berlaymont Building pointed out that “Europe is investing heavily in defence readiness.” These measures include defence projects of common interest in which Romania is also participating. For example, “there is SAFE, our joint defence procurement programme,” thanks to which “Romania will receive over €16 billion and is already setting a good example with the joint drone initiative launched together with Ukraine.” Concluding her speech, von der Leyen emphasised that “Europe needs this kind of cooperation,” recalling that “two weeks ago, the Commission launched a second call for proposals under SAFE,” making over €21 billion available to Member States. “I strongly encourage Romania to make full use of this opportunity to invest in the capabilities needed to better protect the country and the Black Sea region,” she concluded.