European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is visiting Romania and Bulgaria over two days to discuss escalating security threats in the Black Sea region.
The EU has seen a rise this year in “hybrid threats, attacks, and incursions” into EU territory, with around half of the incidents affecting Romania, Bulgaria and the Black Sea region, the Commission stressed in a statement on Monday.
Talks during the trip are set to cover stronger maritime surveillance, faster defence investment and improved crisis response, it said. Von der Leyen is also expected to announce new EU support for Romania and Bulgaria to strengthen security and resilience.
Von der Leyen said she held a call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of the visit. “Freedom of navigation in the Black Sea must be restored and preserved.”
Meetings in Bucharest and Varna
In Bucharest on the first day of the visit, von der Leyen was due to meet Romania’s President Nicușor Dan and Prime Minister Luca-Alexandru Niculescu.
On the second day, she is expected in Varna to meet Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Rumen Radev and visit the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy.
Von der Leyen said she reiterated support for Zelenskyy’s call for a ceasefire covering food and energy infrastructure.
She also disclosed that she discussed ongoing peace efforts and talks taking place in Abu Dhabi this week, where “the EU will be present alongside our partners.”
The European Commission president is due to meet Zelenskyy in Dublin later this week.
