BRUSSELS — Romania will ask NATO to fast-track air defense deliveries and will also shutter its only Russian consulate after a Russian drone crashed into an apartment building.
“This is an unacceptable and blatant violation of our airspace,” Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Toiu told POLITICO. “We have confirmation it is a Russian drone.”
Toiu said NATO’s top commander, U.S. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, has “agreed” to previous proposals by Bucharest asking the alliance to shift military equipment to the country. In response to the drone incident, she said Romania will ask to “accelerate” their delivery.
However, she stopped short of saying Bucharest would invoke the alliance’s Article 4 provision, which requires alliance members to convene for urgent talks.
Romania is also retaliating diplomatically. “We have summoned the Russian ambassador … to inform them that we will close down the general consulate in Constanța” and the Russian consul general will be expelled, Toiu added, echoing a statement by Romanian President Nicușor Dan.
The request to NATO comes after the drone entered Romanian airspace overnight Friday and hit the roof of an apartment building in Galați, near the border with Ukraine, causing a fire and minor injuries to two people. The defense ministry said the drone crossed from Ukrainian airspace, where Russia was attacking civilian and infrastructure targets.
Bucharest has seen at least 25 airspace violations since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, recording seven this year alone.
Two F-16 aircraft were scrambled but did not shoot down the drone. A top Romanian army official said there was too little time to eliminate it safely.
A NATO military official, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly, said “the planes were primed and ready, and had all the necessary authorities,” but the “incident occurred over a populated area — that’s something we should consider.”
Sorin Moldovan, Romania’s deputy defense minister, said last week at the POLITICO Speakeasy at the GLOBSEC Forum in Prague that if there is a risk to civilians “you don’t give the [order] to fire.”
The full list of kit Romania is asking for remains classified, but the country’s interim Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan listed specialized radars that detect low-altitude drones as one example of the type of equipment the government had requested from NATO partners.
Radu Tudor, an independent security expert, argued one reason NATO had been slow to respond to previous Romanian air defense requests was down to the speed of Russian drone-related innovation, which rapidly puts NATO equipment out of date. “They are evolving with the threats, and we are evolving defense, but not fast enough,” he said.
Bucharest will also ask NATO allies to discuss the incident and “the need to increase the deterrence and defense capabilities on the eastern flank,” Toiu said. That discussion will take place at a preplanned meeting of the alliance’s 32 ambassadors focused on maritime security “in the coming days,” she added.
NATO allies Poland and Estonia last year triggered the Article 4 provision after airspace violations.
Similar drone incidents are rattling other NATO countries. A Romanian pilot on a NATO mission last week shot down a Ukrainian drone over Estonia. Latvia and Lithuania have also reported drone incursions. NATO countries accuse Russia of electronically redirecting Ukrainian attack drones onto alliance territory.
A senior Ukrainian military official, also granted anonymity to speak freely, told POLITICO that the Romania crash was a “deliberate provocation” by Moscow. The official argued the drone retained enough fuel to suggest it was not simply veering off course.
Russian Deputy Security Council Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said it was “necessary to determine whose drone it was” but added that EU countries “need shut up on this matter.” Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova threatened “retaliatory measures” over Romanian sanctions.
EU officials reacted with outrage at the drone incident. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “Russia’s war of aggression has crossed yet another line.”
NATO chief Mark Rutte expressed the alliance’s “absolute solidarity” with Bucharest, telling Dan that NATO would “continue to enhance readiness to deter and defend against any threat, including from drones.”
Veronika Melkozerova and Jonas Loesel contributed reporting.
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