A Russian drone has breached Romania's airspace, in the second such intrusion by the Kremlin in an eastern NATO nation in days.
The drone briefly entered Romanian airspace during a Russian attack on Ukraine on Saturday afternoon, local time, prompting Romania to deploy two F-16 jets, which tracked it until it dropped off the radar 20 kilometres off the village of Chilia Veche on the Ukrainian border.
Romania's defence ministry said "the drone did not fly over inhabited areas and did not represent an imminent danger to the security of the population".
"[The drone] orbited for about 50 minutes, from north-east of Chilia Veche to south-west of Izmail, and left national airspace near the town of Pardina, heading towards Ukraine," the statement said.
[MAP]The ministry said the drone in question was a Geran-2, an Iran-made munition also known as a suicide or kamikaze drone.
Last Wednesday's Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace also reportedly involved Geran-2s.
Romanian Defence Minister Ionut Mosteanu said the F-16 pilots came close to taking down the drone as it was flying very low before it left national airspace toward Ukraine.
Two Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft — part of German air policing missions in Romania — were also scrambled.
Romania, a European Union and NATO state that shares a 650 kilometre border with Ukraine, has had Russian drone fragments fall onto its territory repeatedly since Russia began waging war on its neighbour.
Its defence ministry said Moscow's actions represented "a new challenge to regional security and stability in the Black Sea".
"Such incidents demonstrate the Russian Federation's lack of respect for international law."
Ambassador summoned as Romania says its sovereignty violated
Foreign Minister Oana Toiu announced that Russia's ambassador to Bucharest, Vladimir Lipaev, would be summoned to the ministry over the airspace breach.
After that meeting on Sunday evening, a ministry statement said Romania had "conveyed its strong protest against this unacceptable and irresponsible act, which constitutes a violation of [its] sovereignty".
"Such recurring incidents contribute to the escalation and amplification of threats to regional security," the statement added.
Moscow had been "urgently requested … to prevent any future violations".
The intrusion comes days after fellow NATO member Poland said it had shot down Russian drones that had violated its airspace as Moscow launched a barrage against Ukraine.
In that incident, an airport in the eastern Polish city of Lublin was closed for about two hours while NATO fighter jets undertook what Warsaw said was a "preventive air operation" due to a threat of drone strikes in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the Kremlin of seeking to expand its invasion of his country.
"Everyone can see that the Russians are exploring how to bring the war to Poland and the Baltic states. The Russian army is also testing Romania," he said on Sunday.
Separately on social media, the Ukrainian president also called for sanctions, tariffs and an urgent "collective defense" decisions against Russia.
[Tweet]The European Union's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X: "The violation of Romanian airspace by Russian drones is yet another unacceptable breach of an EU member state's sovereignty.
"This continued reckless escalation threatens regional security. We stand in solidarity with Romania. I am in close contact with the Romanian government."
Russia has not yet commented on the reported Romanian airspace breach, but it has denied targeting Poland.
NATO defences put to the test by Russia, experts say
Following the Poland drone incursion, NATO on Friday announced plans to beef up the defence of its eastern European flank.
The operation Eastern Sentry involves a range of assets integrating air and ground bases aimed at adding "flexibility and strength" to the trans-Atlantic alliance's defensive posture in the east.
So far, the commitments include two F-16s and an anti-air warfare frigate from Denmark, three Rafales from France, and four Eurofighters from Germany.
The UK has also said it will support the mission.
Eastern Sentry was launched directly in response to ongoing airspace violations by Russia, and followed a NATO meeting on September 10 where Poland invoked the treaty's Article 4, which stipulates all members must consult together if any one member felt its territory, political independence or security was threatened.
While the possible intent behind Russia's incursions are yet to be assessed, they have been called an apparent test of NATO's readiness and resolve by Moscow.
"It seems very unlikely to me that around 20 drones would accidentally find themselves in a territory where they are not supposed to be," Ulrike Franke, a researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told the AFP news agency.
Mick Ryan of the Lowy Institute's international security program described the violations as "probing".
Doubts remain, however, over NATO and Europe's ability to withstand any large-scale Russian air assault, beyond the handful of drones intercepted.
Retired US general Ben Hodges said the alliance's strategy needed to catch up to drone warfare
"Using F35 and F22 versus drones shows we are not yet prepared," he told AFP.
And on missile defence, Europe's strategy of sheltering under a shield "is a losing one", said German researcher Fabian Hoffman.
"Russia produces roughly one-and-a-half to two times as many ballistic and cruise missiles as Europe produces interceptors, and it is far outpacing Europe in long-range drone production," he said, calling the current approach "unsustainable" in the long run.
There are also concerns a defensive posture hinged on deploying expensive fighter jets against cheap drones such as the Geran-2s is economically irrational for NATO.
ABC/wires
