Sklifosovsky Insitute, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
By Madelynn Linet
On Tuesday, October 6th, an attack was committed in the Black Sea. Two commercial vessels, in Bulgaria’s Exclusive Economic Zone in the Black Sea, were struck by drones, which led to the deaths of at least two people. According to the Bulgarian Prime Minister, this attack was the first known attack against ships in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone which shows that the Black Sea may be a geostrategic location that needs to be considered in the future when it comes to peace in Eastern Europe.
Bulgarian authorities said that the source of the drone is being investigated. However, there is one major actor whose voice is one of the most important ones given the fact that Bulgaria is in Eastern Europe, which also means that it is close to the Russian Federation. The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, says that the attacks were committed by the Russian Federation. The Bulgarian government investigated this in an emergency meeting that was held the next day after the attack, and Bulgaria’s president, Iliana Yotova, came to a pertinent conclusion. She said that the Russia-Ukraine war was undermining the security of commercial ships in general without outright blaming Russia. She does make a strong statement at the same time by saying that these attacks on the commercial vessels in Bulgaria do indeed violate international law.
The first point worth analyzing here is the fact that Zelensky outright claimed that the attacks were committed by Russia themselves. This is a significant claim to make since Zelensky has strong knowledge of Russia’s actions given that he has had to deal with them over the last half-decade through the Russian-Ukrainian war. This means that if Zelensky said that, then it is likely to be true that Russia at least had some influence regarding this vessel attack in Bulgaria. Zelensky, just to give everyone a reminder, knew how to stay alive despite the Russians wanting to kill him for years. There was a story at the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which in its present state began in 2022, that Zelensky was offered asylum both by countries in Western Europe and also by the United States. He rejected both offers, stating that he does not need asylum from Ukraine, but rather ammunition so that he could fight the Russian Federation. This is an important consideration, which increases Zelensky’s credibility because it shows that he recognizes the fact that Bulgaria is in international alliances that are threatening to the Russian Federation.
The second point worth analysing here is the quick transition to the emergency meeting following this attack. This is an important aspect because it shows the seriousness of the Bulgarian government in protecting not only its country, but all of its regional allies. Another direct consideration here is that Bulgaria is fulfilling its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) obligations of protecting all of the countries in the organization. The most important ones regarding this attack are ones like Romania and Greece, given their close proximity to the Black Sea, but overall, what happens in the Black Sea impacts the rest of NATO countries through other channels such as energy deals and negotiations. One of the things that NATO has is that if a NATO country receives an attack, then it is an attack on all of the countries. That is according to the collective defense rules found in Article 5 of the NATO charter. This is significant because it goes into another perspective we must consider when discussing this attack on the Black Sea, and that is the consideration of international law.
In regard to international law, one of the most pivotal rules that might have been violated is the law of international sovereignty. That is specifically found in the United Nations Charter in Article 2 Section 4, which states that “all Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.” This is a significant one because one could argue that the attack that was in the Bulgarian Exclusive Economic Zone was a violation of Bulgaria’s economic sovereignty, which would be a violation of its sovereignty because it weakens its status on its territory.
In conclusion, there are a few considerations. One of the first ones is that the Bulgarian government was ready to act. The second consideration is that, from the perspective of other leaders in the region, like Zelensky, it is instrumental in understanding how the Russians may have influenced this situation. The final consideration is that this attack could easily be categorized as a violation of international law if it was done by anyone with one of the possible countries in violation being Russia.
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