BUCHAREST, Sep 9 (Reuters) –
New fragments of a drone similar to those used by the Russian military were found on Romanian soil, the Defense Ministry said Saturday, and President Klaus Iohannis said this indicates there was an unacceptable violation of Romania’s airspace.
In a statement, Iohannis said he had informed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg about the pieces of the drone – the second to crash on Romanian territory this week – and that Stoltenberg reiterated the alliance’s full solidarity with Romania.
“The identification by the Romanian authorities on Romanian territory, near the border with Ukraine, of new drone fragments (…) indicates that there has been an unacceptable violation of the airspace of Romania, a NATO State, with real risks to the safety of Romanian citizens in the area,” Iohannis stated.
“I strongly condemn this incident caused by Russian attacks on Ukrainian Danube river ports,” he added.
The attacks on Ukrainian river ports, a few hundred meters from the Romanian border, have increased security risks for NATO, whose members are committed to mutual defense. Stoltenberg said Russian attacks near the border were “destabilizing,” although there is no indication Russia intended to attack a NATO member.
Earlier this week, the US State Department announced it would send more US F-16 fighter jets to bolster NATO’s air policing mission in Romania. (Reporting by Luiza Ilie, contributing by Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels; edited in Spanish by Javier López de Lérida)
Source: Ambito
