NSC in Brussels: event at NATO HQ

NSC in Brussels: event at NATO HQ

The Romanian Permanent Delegation to NATO organized a debate on the challenges to the freedom of navigation in the Black Sea.
The debate was attended by experts from the NSC and LSE Ideas, the security and foreign affairs think-tank of the London School of Economics in the UK.
LTG (ret.) Vasile Toader, Member of the Scientific Council of the NSC, and Peter Watkins, Visiting Senior Fellow at LSE Ideas, spoke about the dangers to freedom of navigation in the Black Sea, describing Russia’s actions. Missile attacks on ships carrying Ukrainian grain to global markets, hitting Ukraine’s Black Sea and Danube port infrastructure, mining, disrupting ships’ GPS signals, blocking perimeters, abusive inspections of ships are part of the arsenal used by the Russians to affect freedom of navigation in the Black Sea.

Russia wants to turn agricultural products into a weapon to destabilize global supply flows and affect social stability in African and Asian countries. The already fragile social and political destabilization may generate additional migratory pressures on Europe by increasing support in the EU for far-right parties that are sympathetic to Russia.
NSC and LSE Ideas experts have warned that the massive Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have drastically reduced the country’s power and heat production capacity, risking a new wave of Ukrainian migrants to neighboring countries in the winter.

If the West’s military support for Ukraine were to diminish, there is a risk that Russia would occupy Ukraine’s entire Black Sea littoral, with Romania bordering Russia directly at the mouth of the Danube. Moreover, in such a scenario there is a major risk that the Republic of Moldova would be occupied by Russia.
Even in the event of a frozen conflict, in which Crimea remains under Russian occupation, Russia will maintain its aggressive behavior in the Black Sea, forcing NATO to continue deterrence measures and to have an active air and land presence to compensate for the lack of a naval presence due to the restrictions generated by the Montreux Convention.
The study “SECURITY CHALLENGES IN THE BLACK SEA: NATO, THE WIDER REGION AND THE GLOBAL ORDER.
Pledging for a free and open Black Sea”, carried out by NSC and LSE Ideas, authored by George Scutaru, Director General of NSC and Peter Watkins, Visiting Senior Fellow at LSE Ideas, the study will be the basis for further events organized by the two think-tanks in London in November this year.
NSC is grateful to Romania’s Ambassador to NATO, H.E. Dan Neculaescu, and Romania’s Permanent Delegation to NATO for their support.