The threat to commercial shipping in the Black Sea is bringing Bulgaria and Romania closer together

Nova News, 16 October 2026

Summary

Here is a concise summary of the interview between Lora Indzhova (Nova News) and journalist Vladimir Mitev (The Bridge of Friendship), broadcast on 16 October 2026:

Key Summary Points

• Black Sea Security Escalation: Recent drone attacks on civilian merchant ships in the Black Sea—causing ship sinkings and casualties—prompted Bulgaria and Romania to request a special European Council discussion and engage NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte to enhance maritime security coordination.
• Diplomatic Alignment: Shared external threats are driving Bulgaria and Romania into closer geopolitical alignment. Previous Romanian media skepticism toward Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has largely subsided amidst broad European support (including France and Germany) for a moratorium on attacks on civilian shipping.
• Romania’s Multi-Faceted Crisis: Romania is navigating political instability under a caretaker government, an energy crisis due to the outage of the Cernavodă nuclear power plant, and severe fiscal pressure as its credit rating nears “junk” status, forcing business contractions and spending cuts under the Bolojan cabinet.
• Shifting Comparative Perceptions: Romanian media is reporting on Bulgaria with unprecedented optimism—citing Bulgaria’s eurozone entry, energy resilience as a net power exporter, and cultural achievements—reversing the traditional view of Romania being the sole frontrunner in the bilateral relationship.

Video with auto-generated subtitles in English

Introduction (by the Bridge of Friendship)

On 16 October 2026 Lora Indzhova from the programme ‘Your Day’ on Nova News interviewed Vladimir Mitev regarding the latest escalation of the war between Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea, which led to attacks on merchant ships near Bulgarian and Romanian territorial waters. These attacks, which caused fires, the sinking of vessels and loss of life, prompted Bulgaria and Romania to request the inclusion of a special agenda item on Black Sea security during the European Council on 15 and 16 October 2026. Meanwhile, the presidents of both countries — Rumen Radev and Nicușor Dan — raised the issue of the security of commercial shipping and the escalation in the region with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, following which a special meeting of the North Atlantic Council is due to take place.

Interview (by Nova News)

Lora Indzhova:

We are joined on our live line by Vladimir Mitev – a journalist and founder of the Bulgarian-Romanian website ‘The Bridge of Friendship’. Mr Mitev, hello!

Vladimir Mitev:

Hello!

Lora Indzhova:

I won’t draw you into a political discussion, but I’d like you to tell me what the current mood is in Romania regarding yesterday’s events and the European Council meeting – the talks that took place between the leaders of Bulgaria and Romania and Mark Rutte. This joint defence headquarters on a rotational basis

Vladimir Mitev:

It seems to me that we are witnessing something that has already happened, when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. At that time, this common threat to Bulgaria and Romania led to a situation where the two countries began to grow closer politically. In 2023, they signed a joint declaration on strategic partnership. This rapprochement continues to this day.

But here I should perhaps add a little context. When Rumen Radev was president, he invited Nicușor Dan to visit Sofia, immediately after his election as president in May 2025. But I have never noticed any public response to this invitation. That is precisely what is interesting. For some time, there was a certain reserve or hostility towards Rumen Radev in the Romanian media or amongst Romanian experts.

Lora Indzhova:

Why?

Vladimir Mitev:

He’s been labelled as being very open towards the East.

Lora Indzhova:

Is that what people are saying in Romania? I wasn’t expecting the conversation to take this turn.

Vladimir Mitev:

I have come across such claims. For example, when the drone crashed near Kardam earlier this year, there seemed to be a certain hostility towards him. At the moment, this is not noticeable at all in the Romanian media. In fact, even people with anti-Russian views are speaking positively about his initiatives. Perhaps it is important to put this into context, as both Germany and France are currently supporting the initiative for a moratorium on attacks against civilian vessels in the Black Sea.

In fact, what is interesting is that things are falling into place in such a way that the growing overall threat in the Black Sea is leading Bulgaria, Romania, and indeed European countries and NATO member states in general to coordinate more closely. You actually highlighted this in the news round-up before our interview.

Lora Indzhova:

Tell me, the people in Romania – the Romanians – how are they living, how are they feeling at the moment? Romania fell victim to similar attacks much earlier than Bulgaria. Are the authorities managing to reassure the people? Are they managing to convince them that there are sensible leaders who are looking after their security?

Vladimir Mitev:

Romania has been in a political crisis since the spring – the government is in a caretaker capacity. Over the summer there was also an energy crisis, which is still ongoing, as the Cernavodă nuclear power station remains out of operation and, consequently, the country is importing large amounts of electricity, whilst lacking significant battery storage capacity. There is also a fiscal or financial crisis to some extent, as Romania’s credit rating is close to the point where it will be downgraded to ‘junk’ status, meaning that bankruptcy could be imminent. In this respect, there really is a sense of crisis in Romania this year.

And perhaps it is interesting… I would mention two things very briefly. The first is that next Tuesday, the motion on the ‘Niculescu’ cabinet will be put to a vote. It is expected to be passed, as there are key parties supporting it. This may well mark the beginning of the end of the political crisis.

The other thing that might be of interest to our viewers: unexpectedly, whilst in Romania there has long been a view that they are very successful economically and in other respects, this year there have been many positive articles about Bulgaria. In fact, as far as our country is concerned – with our entry into the eurozone, the fact that the energy crisis did not affect Bulgaria and that Bulgaria was an exporter of electricity; even with Bulgaria’s victory in the Eurovision music contest, if you like – that Bulgaria somehow came out on top. It seems that Bulgaria is currently doing things better.

This matters at a time when the Romanians themselves are really struggling. I have acquaintances who have so far managed to get by in one way or another – for example, through services, tourism or something else. The decline in consumption, the fall in incomes and the spending cuts introduced by the ‘Bolojan’ cabinet are leading to a situation where these people are now looking for jobs as employees, whilst the business model they relied on is collapsing. To me, these are signs that things aren’t quite as good as they used to be.

Lora Indzhova:

Thank you for this conversation and for what you mentioned at the end. That’s why I fell silent and listened to you with such great interest – because I’d like our viewers to… It’s a bit like… We were recently joking with political observers about ‘therapeutic talk’. We need to believe in each other a little more; we need to be more united.

At the moment, Bulgaria is once again torn apart by divisions – both ideologically and in the context of the election campaign. We see all sorts of things, such as comments and extreme, polarised positions on social media. But it’s nice to have someone from the outside, a fellow countryman, tell us how Bulgaria is increasingly being mentioned in a positive light for the progress it’s making – despite all the difficulties here, despite all the doubts, despite the manipulative political rhetoric during the election campaign and despite the lack of honesty, which voters sometimes need most of all.

But in any case, we’re moving forward. Quite often over the years, Romania has been seen as the frontrunner in the Bulgaria–Romania pairing. This time, you say that things seem to be different this year. You also spoke about the crises Romania is currently facing.

We’ll be keeping an eye on what happens next Tuesday with the vote on the ‘Niculescu’ cabinet, which you mentioned. Thank you once again for this conversation, Mr Mitev.

Our compatriot Vladimir Mitev – a journalist and founder of the Bulgarian-Romanian website ‘The Bridge of Friendship’ – appeared on ‘Your Day’ following yesterday’s European Council meeting. It is a two-day meeting, so the session continues today. Let us see, following the inspection of the vessel Chelsea 3, whether we will have a clear answer to the question of who owns the drones that attacked Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone and, regrettably, led to the loss of life on the two civilian merchant ships that were attacked.

Photo: (source: The Bridge of Friendship, via Gemini)

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