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Known as Pontos Euxeinos (“the hospitable sea”) by the ancient Greeks, the Black Sea has long been a crossroads of competing influences, cultures, and ideologies. Today, its strategic importance is unmatched: it borders two EU members: Romania and Bulgaria. With them, Türkiye is a NATO ally. The region remains volatile, with Russia’s war in Ukraine ongoing and unresolved territorial disputes in Georgia. Amidst these challenges, the EU’s 2024–2025 Black Sea Strategy, marks a decisive shift. Anchored by a Maritime Security Hub, the strategy seeks to deepen cooperation with Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, aiming to transform this long-neglected periphery into a coherent strategic corridor. This raises critical questions about the strategy’s ambitions, mechanisms, and obstacles.
Why the Black Sea Matters?
The Black Sea region is one of Europe’s most complex and strategically vital areas. It comprises states with diverse political systems, military capabilities, and alignments. The six littoral countries: Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine - alongside the broader Black Sea Economic Cooperation membership, embody a fragile balance of security, sovereignty, and economic interdependence on Europe’s southeastern edge.
Historically, the Black Sea has swung between rivalry and cooperation, never forming a cohesive political bloc but shaped by cycles of conflict and selective integration. Recent years have intensified its dual character: increased connectivity amid growing polarisation.
All Black Sea states face persistent challenges consolidating democracy and the rule of law. Multilateral frameworks like the EU’s Black Sea Synergy, launched in 2007, have facilitated cooperation on environment, transport, energy, and research, complementing BSEC’s economic focus. However, security concerns often dominate.
The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine transformed the Black Sea from a peripheral maritime space into a frontline of European and transatlantic security. It underscored Ukraine’s strategic role and exposed vulnerabilities across energy routes, shipping lanes, undersea infrastructure, and information domains.
In response, the EU recalibrated its approach. The May 2025 Black Sea Strategy enhances maritime situational awareness, establishes a Maritime Security Hub, and upgrades dual-use infrastructure to improve military mobility. It also prioritises countering hybrid threats including cyberattacks, disinformation, and economic coercion, primarily from Russia. These initiatives mark a shift from fragmented and reactive policies towards a more coherent, evolving regional security framework. NATO’s expanding maritime presence and EU defence initiatives like PESCO and the European Peace Facility embed the Black Sea in Europe’s collective defence architecture.
Looking ahead, the Black Sea is no longer just a geographic crossroads but a strategic convergence zone where global competition, regional cooperation, and institutional integration intersect. In today’s multipolar, unstable world, it is Europe’s exposed flank and its importance is greater than ever.
The EU’s New Black Sea Strategy
Outlined in the May 2025 Joint Communication, the EU’s 2024-2025 Black Sea Strategy recognises the Black Sea as both a contested strategic space and a region of untapped potential. It signals the EU’s intent to deepen engagement and tackle the region’s complex challenges with a forward-looking, integrated approach. Rooted in shared values, good governance, and regional cooperation, the strategy aims to make the Black Sea secure, interconnected, and prosperous. It focuses on strengthening democratic institutions, advancing the rule of law, and supporting reforms that underpin political and economic stability.
Geoeconomically, the EU views the Black Sea as a vital gateway linking Europe to the South Caucasus, Central Asia, and beyond. The strategy invests in connectivity, transport, energy, and digital infrastructure to facilitate trade, foster integration, and reduce vulnerabilities.
Maritime security is central in the new strategy, which intends to enhance surveillance, cyber defences, and protection of undersea infrastructure. It reaffirms support for Ukraine and neighbours through sovereignty defence, reconstruction aid, and security guarantees to promote lasting peace. The enlargement framework remains a key instrument as some Black Sea states seek closer EU integration.
The strategy rests on three pillars:
Challenges and Limitations
Despite its ambition, the EU faces major challenges implementing the strategy. It lacks autonomous naval capacity in the Black Sea, relying on NATO for maritime security, which limits its operational independence. Ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, challenges in Georgia, Moldova, and Armenia-Azerbaijan hinder regional cooperation. Türkiye, a critical partner, often pursues foreign policies diverging from EU priorities, complicating coordination. Overlapping regional initiatives (the Black Sea Synergy, Eastern Partnership, and BSEC) create institutional fragmentation and weaken policy coherence.
Governance issues such as corruption and weak rule of law in some partner states obstruct reforms and trust-building. The EU’s reliance on funding tools like Global Gateway and Team Europe introduces bureaucratic complexity and resource competition. Past cooperation efforts have produced mixed outcomes, casting doubt on the EU’s ability to translate strategy into action.
Furthermore, the EU struggles to engage non-EU actors effectively and to counter persistent hybrid threats. These operational and geopolitical constraints test the strategy’s viability.
While these initial obstacles merely scratch the surface, the EU’s proactive commitment to Black Sea security heralds a new era of European geopolitical agency. This initiative not only embodies a stride towards strategic autonomy but also offers a vital hope to partner states in urgent need of credible security guarantees. Yet, the finer details remain elusive, demanding rigorous examination of the institutional frameworks and operational tools through which Brussels will transform maritime vision into tangible results.
Lana KURTANIDZE
Lana Kurtanidze is a recent graduate of the College of Europe, where she earned an MA in European Political and Governance Studies. In her thesis, she examined Euroscepticism in the enlargement process and its broader implications for EU–candidate state relations. Prior to Bruges, Lana completed a BA in International Relations at the Free University of Tbilisi. She is passionate about researching the European Neighbourhood Policy, developments in the Black Sea region, and the EU’s migration framework.
Salome TOLIASHVILI
Salome Toliashvili is an alumna of the European Political and Governance Studies program. Her interests include the EU’s Eastern Partnership, enlargement methodology, and the geopolitics of the South Caucasus and Black Sea regions. In her thesis, she analysed the transfer and implementation of EU migration rules in Georgia. She is particularly focused on the intersection of policy, communication, and regional cooperation, with an emphasis on how EU norms shape neighboring countries.
