EU Allocates €50 Million to Accelerate Black Sea Maritime Security Hub

The European Union will allocate €50 million ($56 million, according to Ports News Russia) to accelerate the creation of a joint maritime security hub between Romania and Bulgaria in the Black Sea. The announcement was made by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after meeting with Romanian President Nicușor Dan in Bucharest on November 9.

The project, called the Black Sea Maritime Security Hub, will have two bases: one at the Romanian port of Constanța and another at the Bulgarian port of Varna, planned at the Nikola Yonkov Vaptsarov Naval Academy. The civilian-led network will combine maritime surveillance and information sharing to protect critical infrastructure such as ports, submarine cables, pipelines, offshore facilities and shipping routes, in addition to covering early warning, cyber and hybrid threats, environmental security and coordination in maritime emergencies.

In addition to the €50 million, the EU committed another €10 million ($11.2 million) to strengthen the search and rescue operations of Romanian authorities. The Commission could also immediately make satellite imagery from the Copernicus program available, while the European Maritime Safety Agency is offering support for situational monitoring, after Romania and Bulgaria requested such backing following the attacks on commercial vessels.

The announcement follows a series of drone attacks on vessels linked to Ukraine in the western Black Sea, which Ukraine, the EU and Romania attribute to Russia, while Bulgaria avoided pointing to a responsible party. According to Financial Times figures cited by The Maritime Executive, about 40 crew members died this year in attacks affecting more than 500 vessels, both in the western Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev blamed Romania for publicly denouncing Russia and suggested that such accusations may have increased the pace of the attacks.

The security hub had been proposed in the EU's Black Sea Strategy in May 2025, and an implementation report published in July 2026 identified Turkey, Ukraine and Moldova as potential regional partners. The Commission has not yet set a completion date or determined how the €50 million will be divided between Romania and Bulgaria. According to von der Leyen, Romania will also receive more than €16 billion through the SAFE defense financing instrument, intended for joint equipment procurement, in a fund separate from the one allocated to the maritime hub.