Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu tells us not to worry about the Russian drones entering Romania.
Marcel Ciolacu was asked on Wednesday if Romania has legislation to shoot down intruding drones.
"It's a whole discussion. If you shoot down drones from Romanian territory, but they are on Ukrainian territory.
If those drones hit targets on the territory... So it's a discussion... let's take it much more seriously.
What I tell you with certainty is that if a drone enters Romanian territory, is identified, and is sent to hit a target on Romanian territory, it will be shot down immediately. And the last time it happened," Ciolacu stated.
He was asked about the situation over the weekend when a drone entered several kilometers into Romania.
"And we raised F-16s and monitored its entire trajectory on Romanian territory, as other states have also done. You know we have international airspace police. Don't worry that that drone could have hit any target on Romanian territory. It would have been immediately shot down following protocol, with or without laws. No one is playing," explained Prime Minister Ciolacu.
The radar surveillance system identified and tracked the route of a drone that evolved in national airspace on Saturday night towards Sunday, leaving national territory towards Ukraine, being monitored by two F-16 aircraft, the Romanian Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday.
Subsequently, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested respect for international law norms, including the inviolability of Romania's airspace, and reiterated a strong condemnation of these illegal attacks.
Additionally, NATO condemned Russia's violation of Romanian airspace following the incident with the drones from Saturday night to Sunday, but stated that there is no information indicating an intentional attack by Moscow.