France has extended the stay of its maritime patrol aircraft in Romania by several more weeks, as attacks on merchant ships in the Black Sea continue to worry NATO members.
The Atlantique 2 was first sent to the country on October 18 and was due to leave on November 6. Its commander said that the aircraft would now stay for a few more weeks to help keep commercial traffic safe.
The deployment followed requests for reinforcement from Romania and Bulgaria after a series of drone strikes near their coasts. October saw strikes on about nine merchant vessels off the two countries, and roughly 34 seafarers are either dead or unaccounted for. Russia has denied targeting its neighbours.
The French maritime patrol aircraft is designed to spot submarines, warships and smaller threats such as mines and sea drones.
The Contship Jet, a container ship owned by a Greek company, was passing through Bulgaria’s
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