Romania stepping up its Black Sea game, potentially marginalizing Turkey

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Bucharest will enter the procedure for the acquisition of submarines. The acquisition plan of the Romanian Army includes French Scorpene submarines and French helicopters, announced the Romanian Minister of Defense.

An expert on the issue said that Romania is being pressured by NATO to play Turkey's role in the region. The Americans see that Turkey has no desire to break ties with Russia and, therefore, plan to "replace" Turkey with Romania in the Black Sea operations. It is not an exaggeration to say that if, in the end, Romania acquires the French submarines that are being discussed, this will mean that Turkey will be one foot outside the operational core of NATO.

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Context: Romania has the biggest port at the Black Sea (Port of Constanța). Historically the Black Sea was an arena of competition between the Russian Empire and the Ottomans. After WW2 the Soviet Union found itself dominating almost the entire sea, as such Turkey joined NATO in 1952. After the fall of URSS, Russia's presence at the Black Seawas greatly diminished. The invasion of Ukraine is meant to make Russia dominate the northern half of the Black Sea again.