Romania on Sunday strongly condemned the entry of a Russian drone into its airspace during an attack on neighboring Ukraine, saying Moscow's actions pose a "new challenge" to Black Sea security.
Romania's foreign minister said the Russian ambassador would be summoned over the second incident involving Russian drones in a European country in the past week.
Poland had already denounced the intrusion of Russian drones into its airspace, calling on Moscow to avoid further "provocations." Polish fighter jets scrambled Saturday in response to fresh Russian drone strikes just over the border in Ukraine.
NATO member Romania has had several drone fragments crash on its territory since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, especially as Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukrainian ports.
In a statement following the drone's entry on Saturday, Romania's defense ministry said it "strongly condemns the irresponsible actions of the Russian Federation and emphasizes that they represent a new challenge to regional security and stability in the Black Sea area."
It added that "such incidents demonstrate the Russian Federation's lack of respect for international law."
The European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, called the Russian action a "reckless" threat to security.
"The violation of Romanian airspace by Russian drones is yet another unacceptable breach of an EU member state's sovereignty," Kallas wrote on X.
"This continued reckless escalation threatens regional security. We stand in solidarity with Romania. I am in close contact with the Romanian government."
Jets Scrambled
Russia has not yet commented since Romania reported late Saturday that its airspace had been breached by a drone during a Russian attack in neighboring Ukraine.
The country scrambled two F-16 fighter jets, which "detected a drone in national airspace" and tracked it until it dropped off the radar, the defense ministry said.
In its statement, the ministry said that a "Geran drone used by" Russia had entered Romanian airspace.
It added that the drone "orbited for about 50 minutes, from northeast of (the village of) Chilia Veche to southwest of Izmail, and left national airspace near the town of Pardina, heading towards Ukraine."
Romania's fighter jets were "supported by German allies... with two Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft," which monitored the situation.
The drone did not fly over populated areas and did not pose an imminent threat to the safety of the population, said the statement.
Romania's Foreign Minister Oana Toiu said on X that she will "raise Russia's actions at (the) UN General Assembly, urging a strict international adherence to sanctions."
Toiu told Romanian channel Digi 24 that the Russian ambassador to Bucharest, Vladimir Lipaev, would be summoned over the airspace breach.
In February, the Romanian parliament adopted a law that makes it possible for the country to shoot down drones breaching its airspace.
AFP
Comments