Shaheen Chairs U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee Hearing on Black Sea Strategy and Efforts to Counter Putin’s Malign Influence in the Region
(Washington, DC) - U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) and Chair of the Europe and Regional Security Cooperation Subcommittee, and Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Ranking Member of the Europe and Regional Security Cooperation Subcommittee, chaired a subcommittee hearing today on implementation of the Department of State’s strategy on security in the Black Sea region. The Senators questioned Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien about efforts to expand economic security and political cooperation with the littoral Black Sea states. The Biden administration’s Black Sea Strategy came as a direct result of Shaheen’s advocacy.
“Putin's aggression in the Black Sea region has implications for our shared security and global economy, including global food and fuel prices. What happens in the Black Sea does not stay there, and the U.S. must be engaged in efforts to combat Russia’s malign influence,” said Senator Shaheen. “I am grateful to Assistant Secretary O’Brien for his willingness to speak with us about the Biden administration’s Black Sea Strategy and I look forward to working together to counter Putin’s pattern of aggression and illegal encroachment across the region.”
In the past, Putin has demonstrated the high strategic value he places upon the Black Sea region through the illegal invasion of Georgia in 2008, his annexation of Crimea in 2014 and his further invasion of Ukraine last year. During today’s hearing, Shaheen also reiterated the importance of restoring stability to the region to help alleviate soaring food and fuel prices worldwide and the need for Congress to pass President Biden’s supplemental funding request to support Ukraine’s fight for freedom.
Shaheen’s remarks can be seen here.
Last week, Shaheen hosted a roundtable discussion with Ambassadors from nations in the Black Sea region. Last year, Senator Shaheen introduced bipartisan legislation with U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) that would direct the Administration to develop a strategy toward the Black Sea region, which has increasingly become a critical inflection point for European and global security amid Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked war in Ukraine. The Biden administration has since adopted a Black Sea Strategy based on the push from Senators Shaheen and Romney. The bipartisan legislation follows Shaheen’s subcommittee hearing on Black Sea Security in October 2021, as well as bipartisan Congressional delegations she led to the NATO Summits in Vilnius (2023) and Madrid (2022).
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