Ensuring freedom and safety of navigation in the Black Sea must be Bulgaria’s first and foremost priority, President Iliana Iotova said on Monday at the opening of an international conference on Black Sea security in Sofia.

Iotova said the conference, titled “The Black Sea and Eastern Europe: Key to European Security”, had become particularly relevant in light of recent developments. She argued that the Black Sea was central not only to European security but also to global security.

The President said the war between Russia and Ukraine had significantly worsened the security environment in the region and changed how maritime security, freedom of navigation and the protection of critical infrastructure should be viewed.

She described the recent attacks on merchant vessels as acts of war rather than isolated incidents, warning that they threatened not only individual ships and their crews but also the principles of free and safe international navigation.

Iotova said participants in the recent meeting of the Consultative Council on National Security (CCNS) had reached agreement on Bulgaria’s proposal for a European framework mechanism to ensure security and safe navigation in the Black Sea.

The aim was not to establish new structures but to make better use of existing capabilities, she explained.

“The Black Sea must be a zone of stability, predictability and peace,” Iotova said, adding that Bulgaria had both an interest in and a responsibility for pursuing that goal.