The European Parliament has called on the European Union to consider deploying a naval operation in the Black Sea, following deadly drone attacks on commercial shipping off the coasts of Bulgaria and Romania.

Source: European Parliament

The resolution was adopted in Strasbourg on Thursday with 432 votes in favour, 52 against and 88 abstentions, Radio Bulgaria's English service reported, citing the same vote count as the Parliament's own press release.

In the text, MEPs strongly condemned the latest strikes off Bulgaria and Romania and repeated violations of Romanian airspace, and held Russia responsible for attacking civilian vessels and for escalating its war against Ukraine into the western Black Sea. That attribution is the Parliament's stated position in the resolution; Russia's response is not included in the Parliament's release.

What MEPs are asking for

MEPs said freedom of navigation and maritime security are part of securing NATO's eastern flank, the Black Sea region and the Danube delta. They called on NATO to consider a Black Sea initiative, building on existing discussions about a possible “Black Sea Sentry”, and underlined closer regional cooperation between Bulgaria, Romania and Türkiye.

They also demanded that EU countries, in coordination with NATO, support Bulgaria and Romania in detecting and tracking hostile drones threatening shipping, praised the two countries' maritime rescue services, border police and passing merchant ships for helping vessels in distress, and urged the EU to press ahead with its planned maritime security centre and use unspent funds from the SAFE defence financing instrument to support the two countries, BNR reported.

The resolution expressed concern over the Bulgarian government's handling of the Russian threat, regretted what it called Sofia's weak diplomatic response, and called on Bulgaria to stop delaying participation in NATO's anti-drone initiative and formally confirm it by 30 October.

The call echoes models the EU already runs elsewhere — the Aspides operation in the Red Sea and Atalanta off the Horn of Africa — according to Europa Press reporting on the same vote. A resolution is a political call, not a deployment order: any naval operation would still need EU member governments to agree it and commit ships.