The European Parliament voted on 22 October to ask the EU and its member states to consider a Black Sea naval operation after a run of deadly drone strikes on civilian shipping off Romania and Bulgaria. The resolution passed with 432 votes in favour, 52 against and 88 abstentions, from 572 MEPs who took part. It holds Russia responsible for attacking merchant vessels and for pushing its war against Ukraine into the western Black Sea.
The non-binding text gives the idea of a Black Sea naval operation its strongest political backing in Strasbourg so far, although it stops short of proposing a mandate, a budget or a list of ships. MEPs tie freedom of navigation to the security of NATO’s eastern flank and the Danube delta, so the case is framed as protection of trade routes and not only of vessels. Any mission would need a unanimous Council decision, and the resolution acknowledges the regional weight of NATO and Türkiye by calling for deeper cooperation between Bulgaria, Romania and Türkiye.
In the debate before the vote, the Renew Europe group said drones had attacked seven civilian ships in the Romanian and Bulgarian exclusive economic zones over ten days, leaving more than twenty sailors dead or missing. The resolution strongly condemns those strikes, as well as repeated violations of Romanian airspace, and it praises the rapid work of Romanian and Bulgarian maritime rescue services, border police and passing merchant vessels.
The sharpest language is reserved for Sofia. MEPs regret what they call a weak Bulgarian diplomatic response to Moscow and voice concern about the government’s ambiguous handling of the Russian threat. They want Bulgaria to stop delaying its participation in NATO’s Air Defence Capabilities Against Lower-level Air Threats initiative, and they ask Prime Minister Roumen Radev to match his appeals for allied solidarity with concrete action. The criticism matters because a Black Sea naval operation would depend on access and political will from the coastal states that sit on the front line.
The text also attaches money to solidarity without naming a figure. It asks that unspent funds under the SAFE defence instrument go to Romania and Bulgaria, and it wants the next long-term EU budget to cover security and defence needs in the Black Sea region. EU governments, working with NATO, are urged to help both countries detect and track hostile drones. The EU is asked to bring its Black Sea maritime security hub into full operation quickly, a step that any Black Sea naval operation would rely on.
Infrastructure under the waves features as well. Parliament wants stronger protection for submarine telecommunications, electricity and data cables through maritime surveillance, regional cooperation and rapid-response mechanisms. Together with a call for a NATO Black Sea initiative that builds on talks about a so-called Black Sea Sentry, the resolution sketches a layered approach in which the EU supplies funding, surveillance and civilian maritime tools while NATO handles hard defence.
The practical test now moves to the Council and the Commission. Parliament cannot launch a Black Sea naval operation itself, but a vote of 432 to 52 gives the Council presidency and the High Representative a clear political signal to scope the option. Whether governments turn the resolution into a mandate or leave the Black Sea naval operation as a talking point will show how seriously the EU treats its maritime flank in 2026.
