Tensions between Romania and Russia reached a new high Monday after Bucharest expelled a Russian diplomat over repeated violations of its airspace.
Bucharest also recalled its ambassador to Moscow for consultations over the incidents.
Romania’s foreign ministry said it had informed Russia’s ambassador after drones breached the NATO and EU’s members’ national airspace three times in as many days and summoned him for a formal complaint.
Romania F-16 fighter jets shot down suspected Russian drones three days in a row, a first since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Russian embassy in Romania on Monday rejected what it called “unfounded accusations”, saying Russia had never directed drones at targets in Romania.
Romania’s foreign ministry presented Russia’s ambassador with drone fragments which he dismissed calling it “a setup designed to prevent ongoing strikes against Ukraine’s port infrastructure on the Black Sea and Danube which are being used by NATO to deliver military equipment and arms.”
The embassy also said that Moscow would take retaliatory measures to the expulsion.
The latest incursion appears to have involved a drone of Russian origin, NATO military spokesman Col. Martin O’Donnell said Monday, Stars and Striped reported.
Romanian President Nicusor Dan on Sunday said investigators confirmed that the first of the three drone incursion on Friday was carried out by a Shahed-type drone used by the Russian military in its war against Ukraine.
The second breach on Saturday is still being investigated.
“It is inadmissible and intolerable for the Russian Federation to continue violating Romania’s airspace, which is, at the same time, NATO airspace and European Union airspace,” Dan said.
“Such actions are unacceptable, and we treat them with the utmost seriousness, alongside our allies.”
NATO members on the alliance’s eastern flank, including Romania and Poland, have expanded their defenses in response to the airspace violations.
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