Romania wants closer cooperation with Bulgaria on monitoring the Black Sea, including by satellite. George Constantin, deputy director general at Romania's ministry of environment, water and forests, made the proposal in Burgas. He spoke at the strategic dialogue "Security: the Black Sea in the new security architecture", part of the forum "Black Sea 2030: Security, Resilience, Innovation".
Constantin said the two countries could run joint projects to manage and monitor water. They could also use the infrastructure and satellite systems already in place to track changes in the sea and in the Danube. He said this would give better control over the marine environment and the risks in the region. The cooperation would also help assess the risk of floods and droughts and protect people, he said.
The European Commission has put €110m into the Black Sea plan and into restoring marine ecosystems. James Morrison, director of the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, joined the forum by video link. He said stronger regional cooperation is needed to help coastal communities cope and to protect ecosystems. Funding under the EU mission to restore oceans and waters will run until 2030.
The Commission will present a new strategy in the coming months for joint management of marine resources and for support for investment and innovation.
Prof. Dr Milen Baltov is rector of Burgas Free University, chair of the Marine Science Society and a member of the European Ocean Board. He spoke about a shared Black Sea capacity built through cooperation between universities and research bodies. He said a decision has been taken to set up a security hub at the N. Y. Vaptsarov Naval Academy in Varna, which will also work in Burgas. The notes say the hub is the result of joint efforts by the Marine Science Society. No dates for setting it up were given.
Savvas Karafilidis, chair and founder of the Bulgarian-Greek Chamber of Commerce and Industry, called for a partnership between business and state bodies. He said military conflicts in the region make private investment harder and hurt the economy. He believes the European Union should give more money to firms in areas hit by uncertainty, above all in transport, logistics and energy.
General Konstantin Popov, chair of the Management Board of the Centre for Development and Policies, led the dialogue. Environment and water minister Rositsa Karamfilova-Blagova also took part.