European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has pledged €50 million to speed up the launch of a joint Black Sea maritime security hub run by Romania and Bulgaria, after a string of deadly drone attacks on cargo ships in the region.

Von der Leyen confirmed the funding at a press conference in the Bulgarian port of Varna on Tuesday, alongside Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev, during a tour of the European Union’s Black Sea states.

“It is important to have it now up and running and therefore we want to have clear timelines for its completion and we want to offer a dedicated funding of 50 million euros to this Black Sea maritime security hub,” she said.

Why the hub is being fast-tracked

At least nine cargo ships were hit by naval drones near NATO members Romania and Bulgaria last month, killing several seafarers and leaving others missing, according to Reuters. The attacks have raised fears that the maritime war between Russia and Ukraine is spreading into waters used by NATO states.

The Black Sea is a key route for trade, energy and food supplies from Ukraine to millions of people, and shipping companies have grown increasingly wary of sailing in its western waters. NATO said it would deploy maritime patrol aircraft, radars and drones to bolster its eastern flank in the Black Sea.

Von der Leyen said all sides had agreed to speed up the hub to restore freedom of navigation in the Black Sea.

What the hub will do

The hub will have two seats, in Constanța in Romania and Varna in Bulgaria, and will be jointly operated by the two countries. It will handle monitoring and early warning, protect critical maritime infrastructure including ports, subsea cables, pipelines and offshore installations, share information between the two countries, and support trade.

The initiative was launched by Romania and Bulgaria and later incorporated into the EU’s Black Sea Strategy, published in mid-2025. European Commission chief spokesperson Paula Pinho said on Tuesday that Brussels aims to have the hub operational by 2027, while Euronews reported it could be running in the first half of next year.

Search and rescue funding

Alongside the €50 million for the hub, von der Leyen announced €10 million for search-and-rescue operations in Romanian waters during her visit to Bucharest on Monday, and a further €10 million for Bulgaria on Tuesday during her visit to the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy in Varna.

In Bucharest on Monday, von der Leyen met Romanian President Nicușor Dan and said Romania and Bulgaria could count on a strong and united European response to the growing security threats in the Black Sea. She also pledged to step up satellite monitoring through the Copernicus programme and to strengthen cooperation against hybrid threats.

A test for Europe’s eastern flank

The funding package is the most concrete step yet in the EU’s response to the attacks on commercial shipping, which have brought the war in Ukraine closer to NATO territory. The hub is intended to give Romania, Bulgaria and their partners a shared picture of what is happening at sea, so threats can be spotted and answered more quickly.

Von der Leyen is due to travel on from Varna to Turkey, where she will attend the COP31 climate summit.