site.btaNATO Deputy Secretary General Geoana: NATO Will Continue to Protect Black Sea Allies Romania, Bulgaria and Turkiye

NATO will continue to do its job in supporting and protecting its allies on the Black Sea: Romania, Bulgaria and Turkiye, NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana said in a BTA interview. He is among the participants in the 12th edition of the Aspen-GMF Bucharest Forum 2023 on Thursday and will be visiting Bulgaria on Friday.

Ahead of his arrival in Bulgaria, Geoana thanked Bulgaria for its contribution to NATO. “Bulgaria plays a very important role. It's a country with a splendid geopolitical location, neighboring the very important regions of the Black Sea and the Balkans, and also the Mediterranean and the Middle East. And the contribution of Bulgaria has been very consistent,” he said.

Following is the full interview.

“The Black Sea will never be a NATO-controlled sea,” said Kremlin spokesman Mitri Peskov in April. How NATO will oppose this and how will it secure the Black Sea region?

NATO has absolutely no aggressive intentions. We just want to give to the Black Sea what is the right of freedom of navigation and security and stability that any other sea around the world needs to be offered. Of course, we cannot underestimate the impact of the brutal war that Russia has waged against Ukraine, the illegal annexation of Crimea, the constant bombarding of the seaports and infrastructure, in summer time of grain exports and in winter time of the energy grid. So, the Black Sea is a very intense geopolitical place.

But we are confident that NATO will continue to do its job in supporting and protecting its allies on the Black Sea: Romania, Bulgaria and Turkiye. We also know that Ukraine will become one day both member of NATO and the European Union. I am very happy that Moldova and Ukraine got from the European Commission the green light to start negotiations and, of course, the European Council needs to approve that. I am also very, very happy that Georgia, which is a very critical country across the Black Sea, is also being granted candidate status.

And that is why we will continue to defend the allies in the Black Sea. We'll continue to support our partners Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia around the Black Sea. And also make sure that Russia is not prevailing in the war against Ukraine. So, I can see an architecture of European security and an architecture of European stability where Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, the Western Balkans, all of us will be part of the European or Euro Atlantic family. It doesn't mean that Russia will not be a player in the Black Sea. It doesn't mean that we don't know that their intentions are of disrupting the Black Sea. But we know that in the end we will prevail and make the whole of Black Sea again free for navigation, free for business, free for peace and free for stability.

Are you discussing the possibility of creating a NATO coordination center for the Black Sea region in Varna? Because Varna is ready to be a host.

I'm visiting Bulgaria tomorrow, including Varna. I'm going to Novo Selo to see the Italian led battlegroup in Bulgaria and then we will also be visiting Varna. I know that the Bulgarian officials at all levels are pressing very hard for this center. That is a decision our military leaders need to take.

As you know, we are now working on the implementation of new defence plans and new force structure, new command structure, new multi domain operations in NATO and I am convinced that Bulgaria and any other country in the Black Sea will have their role to play in this new architecture.

What should be the Bulgarian commitment for strengthening the eastern flank and will you be discussing this tomorrow?

Bulgaria plays a very important role. It is a country with a splendid geopolitical location, neighboring very important regions of the Black Sea and the Balkans, and also the Mediterranean, very close to the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. And the contribution of Bulgaria is very consistent, not only in its own security, which is normal - all of us tend to look at our own national security, but also they have been contributing in missions and operations of NATO for a long period of time. I am happy that the government has a plan to reach 2% of GDP for defence [spending], because all of us have an obligation to invest more. I know this is not always easy because there are always other priorities in social or economic or infrastructure investment, but I think this is a very solid investment because without peace and security there is no economy and there is no other activity that can really flourish.

So, one message to Bulgaria is one of gratitude for its importance in the overall architecture, not only in the region of Black Sea. It's a multi-regional role that Bulgaria plays. And also encouragement of even more cooperation with the countries in the region, be it with Romania, in the Black Sea and the Danube -  the Danube is becoming again prominent strategically and also, hopefully, economically. And, also, to making sure that together with the other players in the region, in the Western Balkans, Turkiye and Greece, there is also a sense of new synergies in everything we do.

My last question, how will NATO deal from now on with two regional crises at the same time? Israel and Ukraine have different needs because they face different threats.

NATO has always had what we call a 360-degree approach: the East, the South and North, or non-geographical dimensions like cyber or hybrid or disinformation or new technologies. This is something that we do every day. So for us the threat of Russia is here and we are taking actions to protect ourselves and support Ukraine and our partners. Also, our policy towards the South and our fight against terrorism continues to be as relevant as ever. And of course, there is always risk to the political focus when you have multiple crises at the same time. But the beauty of NATO and the and the solidity of NATO is that we can do these things simultaneously without distracting resources from the needs for Ukraine or the needs to make sure that we have support for Israel and we avoid escalation in the Middle East. So, it is more complex, but it is absolutely manageable because NATO is such a big alliance and we have this huge tradition of looking into all directions where threats might come our way. I am confident that we will do both successfully like we've done for the last 75 years.