The New Strategy Center organized on November 7, in partnership with LSE Ideas, a roundtable dedicated to the strategic importance of the Black Sea and maintaining freedom of navigation in London.
The event titled “Workshop on Security Challenges in the Black Sea: freedom of navigation, the wider region and the global order” brought together officials and civilian and military experts from the UK and Romania to discuss the importance of freedom of navigation in the Black Sea at regional and global level, the impact of energy projects including in Romania’s Exclusive Economic Zone, connectivity projects. Food security was another topic of the debate, the Black Sea countries being an important producer of cereals for the global market, the social stability of many countries in Africa and Asia depending on the constant maintenance of supplies from the region.
George Scutaru, Director General of the NSC, emphasized the impact of Romania’s energy projects in the Black Sea offshore area, with Romania set to become the EU’s largest producer of natural gas in 2027, following the start of exploitation of the Neptun Deep perimeter. A possible freezing of the conflict on the current line of contact and the maintenance of the Crimean Peninsula under Russian occupation will make Russia behave aggressively in the naval field. A free and open sea is vital for energy projects, connectivity in Europe and Central Asia and the stability of global grain supplies. All these topics are reflected in the study by NSC and LSE Ideas, presented on this occasion and was recently presented by Romanian and British experts and at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
LTG Dragoș Iacob, Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff, and Rear Admiral Liviu Coman, Commander of the Naval Component, present at the debate, underlined the efforts made by Romania to strengthen NATO’s deterrence posture and to maintain freedom of navigation in the face of multiple threats. Romania is managing to keep navigation corridors open, even though the threat of mines is very high and Russia’s electronic warfare activities jeopardize ship communications. The discussions also emphasized the importance of the strategic partnership between Romania and the UK, the excellent military cooperation, especially in the naval field, with Romania acquiring 2 minesweepers from the UK, which has substantially increased its capacity to combat the mine threat in the Black Sea.
H.E. Laura Popescu, Romania’s Ambassador to the UK, highlighted the political and economic dimension of the cooperation with the UK and the potential for consistent growth of this cooperation.
The NSC is grateful to the Ministry of National Defense for participating in this event and to the Romanian Embassy in London for its support.
The NSC will continue to work with LSE Ideas to promote the strategic importance of the Black Sea, especially as the new UK government adopts a new security strategy. The maintenance of a free and open Black Sea is an objective that must be supported at NATO and EU level taking into account the regional and global impact of maintaining freedom of navigation in the Black Sea.
