Busarest, Romania:
New fragments of a drone similar to those used by the Russian military have been found on Romanian territory, the Defense Ministry said on Saturday, and President Klaus Iohannis said this indicated an unacceptable infringement of Romanian airspace had taken place .
In a statement, Klaus Iohannis said he had informed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg about the drone pieces – 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 an unacceptable infringement has taken place in the airspace of Romania, a NATO state, with real risks to the safety of Romanian citizens in the area. Klaus Iohannis said.
“I strongly condemn this incident caused by Russian attacks on Ukraine’s Danube river ports.”
The attacks on Ukraine’s river ports, just hundreds of meters from the Romanian border, have increased security risks for NATO, whose members have a mutual defense obligation.
The US State Department said earlier this week it would deploy additional US F-16 fighter jets to strengthen NATO’s air policing mission in Romania.
The Defense Ministry said the Romanian Navy deployed search teams after local authorities alerted them to suspected drone fragments discovered 2.5 km southeast of the village of Plauru, across the Danube, from the Ukrainian port of Izmail.
The military has secured the area and the fragments will be analyzed, a statement said.
Since Moscow canceled an agreement in July that lifted a de facto Russian blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, the country has repeatedly hit Ukrainian river ports across the Danube from Romania.
Ukraine is one of the world’s largest grain exporters and the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta is now the largest alternative export route, with grains arriving by road, rail or barge on the Danube.
Ukraine had said on Monday that drones were detonated in Romania during a nighttime Russian airstrike on Izmail, Ukraine, but Romanian officials initially denied the reports before finding fragments on Wednesday.
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