The importance of the black sea for the Russian federation

After the attacks of September 11, 2001, but especially with the decision to expand NATO in 2002, the Black Sea became an intersection of Euro-Atlantic geopolitical and geo-economic borders. At the same time, the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to NATO (2004) and to the EU (2007) brought the two organizations into a region that has been under the influence of the Russian Federation. The aims of this article are to determinate the way that these geostrategic movements have influenced the importance of the Black Sea, not only for NATO and the EU, but also for Russia. The objectives are to identify the main reasons for witch this region is so important, to describe and present the military strengthening from the Black Sea Region, and to establish the role and significance of Crimea for Russia. From the perspective of this research, geopolitics is used to analyze the foreign policy of Russia towards the Black Sea, by seeking to understand, explain and anticipate the international political behavior of the states from the wider Black Sea region as well as of the global actors. The main conclusion of this article is that the Black Sea plays a very important role for the Russian Federation and the placement of the Black Sea region in the focus of the strategic concerns is a requirement of the current global interest, but also an essential condition for the good evolution of relations in this region, as well as for the regional and global stability and security.