Maritime security in the Black Sea was the main topic of discussions between Romania, Canada, the Philippines, Norway, Iceland, and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs at the 2026 Munich Security Conference.
The Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Oana Toiu, participated on Sunday in the ministerial session titled "Reinforcing Cooperation to Achieve a Secure and Stable Maritime Domain" at the Munich Security Conference, alongside Kaja Kallas, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Anita Anand, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tess Lazaro, the Philippines' Minister of Foreign Affairs, Katrin Gunnarsdottir, Iceland's Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Espen Barth Eide, Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs.
According to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting aimed at exchanging views on improving multilateral cooperation to address threats to freedom of navigation and critical underwater infrastructure.
Oana Toiu outlined Romania's strategic priorities for securing the Black Sea, both for national security and for the security of the European Union and NATO, emphasising that "security in the Black Sea and in the Indo-Pacific are interconnected, and any disruption of trade flows in one region has a cascading effect on global stability."
"To protect and enhance strategic investments in the Black Sea and Romania's role in strategic corridors, we need stronger maritime security collaboration tools. We are discussing the protection of submarine cables, which are essential for data transfer, and the attractiveness of Romania as a host country for data centres, safeguarding energy infrastructure, and the possibility of rapid and extensive information exchange between countries to ensure a framework for joint controls and sharing best practices in adapting national legislation. As the submarine infrastructure grows, the need to strengthen its protection increases," said Oana Toiu.
During her speech, the Romanian minister also expressed support for global freedom of navigation - including as a source of economic prosperity - through adherence to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as the foundation of international order.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs called for closer monitoring of maritime space as a deterrent to attacks on critical underwater infrastructure, including data cables and energy pipelines.
Oana Toiu highlighted the success of the MCM Black Sea maritime mine countermeasures group (Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey), proposed this type of cooperation as a model of best practices to Southeast Asian partners facing similar risks, and noted that the future Maritime Security Hub, within the European Union's strategic approach to the Black Sea, will contribute to better monitoring of the maritime space.
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