The New Strategy Center participated on Monday 6 November in Brussels, at NATO Headquarters, in the presentation of the study entitled “NATO’s role in addressing security threats and challenges in the Black Sea: Time for a Comprehensive Strategic Approach for the Region?”, a project organised jointly with the Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM), Turkey and Sofia Security Forum (SSF), Bulgaria. The project was funded and supported by NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division.

The Black Sea is a region of particular strategic relevance, facing complex security challenges, especially in the context of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. This uncertain security environment calls for a complex approach by NATO to guarantee European security.
The three partners from Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey have joined forces to analyse the security situation in the region and make policy recommendations to be implemented in a timely manner.
As part of this project, between February and September 2023, working meetings and public events were held in Bucharest, Istanbul and Sofia , attended by diplomats, analysts and academics.

At the event in Brussels, which marked the completion of the project, the NSC was represented by Amb. Gheorghe Magheru, Member of the NSC Scientific Council. Among the policy recommendations advanced by the study Ambassador Magheru highlighted  the necessary increased capabilities of NATO including sufficient deterrence and defence  capacity, increasing defence capabalities of the three littoral countries (comittment to spend no  less than than 2% of their GDP on defence), initiatives and actions on how to cope with the various security rsks in the Black Sea area,including proliferation of different types of weapons, arms control, and environmental pollution. He concluded by underlining the necessary further  measures for the increased level of protection of the Romanian Black Sea and Danube harbours playing a vital role as an important route for the export of Ukrainian grain.

Together with Amb. Magheru, Amb Tacan Ildem, Director of EDAM and Yordan Bozilov, Director of SSF participated. The event was also attended by speakers Marie-Doha Besancenot, Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy of NATO, representatives of Romania, Turkey and Bulgaria to NATO: Amb. Dan Nicolaescu, Amb. Zeki Levent Gümürükçü and Amb. Nikolay Milkov. The discussion was moderated by Mr. Mihai Carp, Political Affairs and Security Policy Division, NATO.

The study can be accessed here.