Bulgaria is set to join a NATO initiative aimed at countering drone threats by the end of October, Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov announced Wednesday. The move comes amid growing concerns over drone attacks targeting commercial shipping in the Black Sea, linked to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Stoyanov said Bulgaria expects to be integrated into the alliance’s anti-drone project by October 30, as the country seeks to strengthen its maritime security along NATO’s southeastern flank. The announcement followed a series of recent drone strikes on cargo vessels near Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast.
On October 13, two cargo ships were attacked, with one vessel, the HS Dignity, flagged in Guinea-Bissau, sinking and leaving 11 sailors missing. This incident occurred just a week after drones damaged additional commercial ships in the same area. Bulgarian authorities have resumed search and rescue operations for the missing crew members, which had been temporarily halted due to adverse weather conditions.
While Bulgaria has not directly blamed Russia for the attacks, Prime Minister Rumen Radev remarked on Tuesday that the consequences of the strikes "benefit the Russian Federation." In response, Bulgaria summoned the Russian ambassador to express concerns over the incidents.
Russia's ambassador to Bulgaria, Eleonora Mitrofanova, stated she had not received information from the Russian Defense Ministry regarding attacks on commercial vessels and suggested the possibility that the strikes could be provocations carried out by a third party.
The escalating drone attacks on shipping come amid Russia’s ongoing bombardment of Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea, disrupting Kyiv’s maritime trade routes and forcing it to rely more heavily on river ports along the Danube and coastal routes near Bulgaria and Romania. Meanwhile, Ukraine has increasingly targeted Russian grain-exporting vessels in other parts of the Black Sea and near the Don River’s mouth in the Sea of Azov, underscoring the broader risks that the conflict poses to commercial navigation in the region.