National Defence Minister Radu Miruta said on Wednesday that he had proposed to his Bulgarian counterpart the signing of a joint letter to NATO's leadership regarding the establishment of a military command in the Black Sea.

'The Black Sea needs a joint military command of NATO's littoral states, and we must take steps to achieve this. I proposed to Bulgaria's Defence minister, with whom I held a telephone conversation after the recent Black Sea incidents, the signing of a joint letter addressed to NATO's leadership, in which we would support the two countries' position on establishing such a command, with rotation among all littoral states both in terms of its location and its leadership,' Miruta wrote on Facebook.

He added that Romania is ready to take over the command's leadership and to host the structure on Romania's Black Sea coast starting in 2028.

'Until then, we accept that it may operate on Turkey's Black Sea coast, with the participation of Romanian and Bulgarian officers. The incidents in the Black Sea - drones, sunken vessels and naval mines - require us to take action, not to wait. Romania is determined to protect its security and economic interests in the Black Sea, with full respect for international law,' Miruta said.

The minister stressed that drone incidents in the airspace and maritime domain can no longer be treated as 'isolated national problems.'

'Russia's repeated attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure have generated collateral security risks for the authorities and populations of our countries and appear to be aimed at testing response capabilities at both national and Allied level. The recent developments confirm that airspace and maritime drone incidents can no longer be treated as isolated national problems,' Radu Miruta underscored. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Mihai Stoica; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)