The situation in the Black Sea basin continues to rapidly degrade, turning into a global threat to the security of not only Ukraine, but the entire European continent. Systematic strikes against the port infrastructure of the Odesa region and logistics hubs demonstrate that the aggressor seeks not just to block the Ukrainian grain corridor, but to completely exclude the Black Sea region from safe international trade. Under the crosshairs are not only port terminals, but also civilian vessels flying the flags of European states that carry out voyages to Ukrainian shores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The de facto blockade of the Black Sea creates direct risks for the food and economic security of the European Union. Ships belonging to European shipowners regularly face threats due to mine hazards, provocations in the open sea, and missile terror targeting coastal areas. Despite this, vessels continue to enter the ports of Greater Odesa and the Danube cluster, securing the vital export of Ukrainian grain and the import of strategic cargo. However, the lack of an effective reaction to systematic attacks on navigation only encourages the aggressor toward further escalation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any attempts to call for restraint through diplomatic notes or expressions of concern have proven ineffective. The maritime blockade of the Black Sea is an element of hybrid warfare against Europe as a whole, because the disruption of logistics chains hits EU markets, provokes inflation, and destabilizes the socio-economic situation in partner countries. The security of navigation in the region cannot be restored solely through defensive methods or patrols in neutral waters without clear security guarantees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the effective protection of European ships and the guarantee of uninterrupted navigation in the Black Sea, it is necessary to finally move away from a policy of waiting and apply fundamentally new approaches. The protection of the merchant fleet and port infrastructure requires a symmetrical response to the aggressor’s actions\u2014the destruction of military targets and weapon carriers directly in their bases and the water areas from which the attacks are carried out. Only a demonstration of readiness to deliver mirror and painful strikes can cool the intentions to block maritime routes and force the adversary to reckon with international law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The situation in the Black Sea basin continues to rapidly degrade, turning into a global threat to the security of not only Ukraine, but the entire European continent. Systematic strikes against the port infrastructure of the Odesa region and logistics hubs demonstrate that the aggressor seeks not just to block the Ukrainian grain corridor, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsreporters.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsreporters.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsreporters.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsreporters.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsreporters.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36997"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsreporters.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37000,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsreporters.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36997\/revisions\/37000"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsreporters.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/36999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsreporters.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsreporters.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsreporters.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}