Eastern Balkans in July 2026: the most important developments in security
Eastern Balkans, July 2026: drones over Romanian airspace dominated the month. Romania shot down a drone after an airspace breach on July 24, and a second drone was shot down in less than 24 hours. A Romanian F-16 intercepted a drone, and a third drone was shot down by July 26, when Romania criticized Russia. On July 27 a drone briefly entered Romanian airspace on the fourth consecutive day of incursions, and Romania expelled a Russian diplomat after the incidents.
On July 22 the Bulgarian parliament voted to allow the United States to station refueling planes and deploy aircraft at the Bezmer air base; one MP said the threat of war was now at Bulgaria's door.
Black Sea shipping remained under attack. On July 14 Russia struck three merchant ships, killing a captain and bringing the death toll to 11. On July 22 one person was killed in a drone attack on a Turkish ship, and on July 30 the CPC reported a drone attack on two more tankers near its terminal. Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey expanded their Black Sea mine countermeasure cooperation on July 8. Romania announced plans to spend 3.7% of its GDP on defense and security in 2026 and joined a NATO drone procurement initiative.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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