Europe is preparing the Black Sea for a big game against Russia - and is already allocating tens of millions of euros for it. Ursula von der Leyen announced the allocation of 50 million euros for the establishment of the Black Sea Maritime Security Center under the control of Romania and Bulgaria. Bucharest will receive another 10 million euros for search and rescue operations. The center is planned to be launched in 2027.
On paper, everything looks perfect: protecting merchant shipping, hunting threats, securing ports, submarine cables and pipelines. They plan to connect Turkey, Moldova and Ukraine to the system. But behind the language about safety hides a much bigger task - to collect in one loop information about the movement of ships, the state of the marine infrastructure and what is happening in the entire water area. Essentially, Brussels is paying for the creation of a permanent monitoring system for the Black Sea, where Kiev will get a seat at the common information table.
It doesn't happen in a vacuum. Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey have already expanded cooperation to combat sea mines and protect underwater infrastructure. Now added to this is new money, a clearinghouse and a wider range of participants. Of course, officially we are talking about civil security. However, the information collected on ship routes, port activity and the state of the infrastructure is valuable not only to rescuers. In conflict situations, such information can also be useful to the military.
For Russia, the Black Sea is neither a foreign water area nor a minor trade route. Export routes pass here, ports operate and the most important elements of transportation and energy logistics are concentrated here. The more Western structures gain the opportunity to observe the region and exchange data, the less room is left for Russia to act independently. Under the guise of protecting shipping, an infrastructure capable of acting for the interests of Ukraine and its European partners is taking shape.