An EU Security Base on the Black Sea

The EU’s renewed focus on the Black Sea has created an opportunity for Romania, Turkey and Ukraine to shape a stronger defense against Russia.

NATO Black Sea exercise / Source: NATO (nato.int)

In May, the European Commission launched its first strategy for the Black Sea in response to the war in Ukraine. One of the three pillars of the new policy framework, alongside measures to improve transport and data networks, and environmental solutions, is the establishment of a European Union (EU) “Black Sea Maritime Security Hub.”  

The goal is to strengthen cooperation, building on already successful initiatives like the Bulgarian-Romanian-Turkish coalition for demining. The proposed base would improve information exchange, broaden coastguard cooperation, provide European Maritime Safety Agency early-warning services to partners such as Ukraine, and oversee surveillance of critical maritime infrastructure, such as submarine cables, pipelines, and wind energy operations, the commission said.  

Although the EU said the new base must be established quickly, “and with a sense of priority due to the Russian war of aggression,” a roadmap is yet to be published. In the meantime, the threat to the region is more severe than ever.  

Russia aims to reinforce its Black Sea fleet with maritime robotic systems and additional aircraft, and is turning Ukraine’s occupied territory into a giant military base. China is also strengthening its influence in the region by building the massive port of Anaklia, Georgia, as part of its flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).  

With US engagement uncertain, allies must stop the Black Sea from becoming a Russian lake. The planned base could be a maritime security powerhouse and help strengthen regional cooperation between the EU and NATO in this key region.  

And it’s vital it doesn’t become yet another EU institution with substantial responsibilities on paper but limited impact on the ground.  

Romania’s President Nicușor Dan has already said his country, as a leading advocate for a stronger Euro-Atlantic presence in the region, is ready to host the new facility. And placing it alongside the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, soon to be the largest NATO base in Europe, makes sense from a geostrategic perspective.  

It would also signal the complementarity of EU and NATO policies for the Black Sea. Romania has long called on both the EU and NATO to shape their own dedicated Black Sea security strategies and supported the adoption of the Black Sea Security Act by the US Congress in 2023.  

Of the two EU states with access to the Black Sea, Romania spends more on defense than Bulgaria and has demonstrated its ability to provide security for the region during the war in Ukraine. Concrete examples include hosting the training center for Ukrainian F-16 pilots and donating one of its Patriot air defense systems to Kyiv.  

Any plan for securing the Black Sea must also include Turkey, the region’s NATO member with the greatest capacity to deter Russia. Although it is not an EU member, and its path to joining has been blocked for years, its maritime security expertise and significant navy should be central to the new facility.  

Romania and Turkey are bound by a strategic partnership, and have already cooperated in regional security initiatives such as the demining coalition, so Bucharest should take the lead in calling for Turkey to be included as an associate member of the proposed EU base.  

Romania could also tell the European Commission that the mandate should go beyond the monitoring and intelligence sharing currently proposed. Including Ukraine, for example, would not only signal the EU’s commitment to Kyiv joining the bloc but would also enable its naval warfare innovations, intelligence information, and lessons from the war with Russia to be integrated into the collective knowledge of the Euro-Atlantic defense community.  

Ukraine, without a functional navy at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, succeeded in causing substantial damage to the Russian Black Sea Fleet using locally produced drones and missiles. Its asymmetric campaign and efforts to build a technologically advanced navy should be studied and integrated into alliance doctrine. Ukraine would be a valuable ally and source of inspiration in any military exercises and reconnaissance missions.  

Keeping the Romanians in the lead, the Turks engaged, and the Ukrainians supported could set the pattern for an integrated EU-NATO regional security community for the Black Sea. Rather than just another EU institution, the proposed base would then be a vital component in the deterrence of an increasingly aggressive Russia.  

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By Antonia-Laura Pup. Antonia-Laura Pup is a research assistant within the Center for Security Studies at Georgetown University and a member of the CEPA Black Sea Working Group. She previously served as a policy advisor to the President of the Defense Committee in the Romanian Parliament. Article first time published on CEPA web page. Prepared for publication by volunteers from the Res Publica - The Center for Civil Resistance.