Turkey-Bulgaria-Romania Defence Meeting: Güler and Top General Arrive in Sofia for Black Sea Talks

Turkish Defence Minister Yaşar Güler and Chief of the General Staff Gen. Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu travelled to Bulgaria for a Turkey-Bulgaria-Romania meeting of defence ministers and chiefs of general staff, Türkiye’s Ministry of National Defence (MSB) said on its official X account on 28 October 2026. The trilateral format brings together NATO’s three Black Sea littoral allies at a time of continued concern over maritime security in the region.

Arrival in Sofia

According to the ministry, Güler and Bayraktaroğlu were received on arrival in the Bulgarian capital by Deputy Defence Minister Lyubomir Monov, Türkiye’s Ambassador to Sofia Mehmet Sait Uyanık, Bulgarian Land Forces Chief of Staff Brig. Gen. Stoyan Stopov and Türkiye’s military attaché in Sofia, Col. Uğur Mertoğlu. The MSB did not publish an agenda for the talks, and no joint statement had been released at the time of writing.

Black Sea mine countermeasures in focus

The three countries’ most visible joint project is the Mine Countermeasures Naval Group in the Black Sea (MCM Black Sea), launched in 2024 to clear drifting sea mines that have threatened commercial shipping since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In July 2026, on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, the three allies signed an amendment to their memorandum of understanding extending the group’s mission to include the protection of critical underwater infrastructure, according to Romanian media. Progress on implementing that expanded role is likely to feature in Sofia.

A regular trilateral format

Defence ministers of Bulgaria, Romania and Türkiye have met in this format several times, including on the margins of NATO ministerial meetings in Brussels, while their chiefs of defence have held separate trilateral consultations. Earlier sessions focused on Black Sea security, crisis and disaster response, information sharing and joint training. Holding the ministers and chiefs together in one meeting underlines the political and military weight the three capitals assign to the format.

Why it matters

Türkiye controls access to the Black Sea through the Turkish Straits under the 1936 Montreux Convention, while Bulgaria and Romania host growing NATO forward presence on the alliance’s south-eastern flank. Coordination among the three littoral states shapes how NATO approaches maritime security in a sea where non-littoral allied warships face strict transit limits. Further details are expected once the ministry publishes the outcomes of the talks.

Featured image: Bichoes78 / CC0, via Wikimedia Commons