As part of the first series of study visits organised under the SAFE-INF project, a delegation of experts from Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Bulgaria and Ukraine visited the Centre of Excellence for Operations in Confined and Shallow Waters (COE CSW) in Kiel, Germany, on 13 October.

SAFE-INF is a project funded through NATO’s Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme, dedicated to protecting critical maritime infrastructure in the Black Sea region against hybrid threats. The study visits bring together project partners and leading institutions in the field, with the aim of strengthening the analytical and methodological framework for joint research.

The delegation comprised Sergiu Mitrescu (Associate Expert, New Strategy Center, and Project Implementation Coordinator); Mihai Mogîldea (Deputy Executive Director, IPRE, Republic of Moldova); Ion Cristea (International Relations Specialist, New Strategy Center); Rear Admiral (ret.) Dr. Iuri-Alexandru Covaleov and Commander (ret.) Dr. Mihai Știr (NSC Senior Associate Experts with experience in operational planning and intelligence); Oleksandra Artemenko (OSINT and International Security Analyst, Ukraine); Dr. Ivo Tsekov (Professor at Sofia University, specialising in hybrid threats, Bulgaria); and Ivelina Dudankova (Head of the Department for Regional Cooperation and International Organisations, Ministry of Interior of Bulgaria).