Meeting in Bucharest, ministers from nine countries on NATO’s eastern flank said they were “deeply concerned by repeated incursions” by “Russian drones and missiles” into their airspace.
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NATO’s eastern defence ministers on Wednesday called for a “collective response” to repeated violations of their airspace, particularly in Romania, by Russian drones and missiles aimed at Ukraine.
Since the start of its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow has carried out almost daily drone and missile attacks against the neighbouring country, especially areas close to its western borders with members of the European Union (EU) and NATO.
Romania and Latvia declared earlier this month that Russian drones and missiles crossed its airspace in a night attack on Ukraine.
Meeting in Bucharest, ministers from nine countries on NATO’s eastern flank declared themselves “deeply concerned about the repeated raids”of “Russian drones and missiles” in the airspace of allied countries and called for “a collective response“.
The countries also asked the Alliance to strengthen”capabilities to detect, identify and, if necessary, attack objects that fly at low altitude and speed.”
“There is a need for a strong and coordinated response by the allies, as well as a rapid implementation of the integrated NATO air and missile defence rotation model,” said Romanian Defence Minister Angel Tilvar.
The Bucharest Nine group consists of Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga called on kyiv’s neighbours to consider shooting down Russian missiles and drones.
At the start of a regional trip to Romania, Sybiga called the Russian airstrikes a “global threat.”
Romania deployed two F-16 fighter jets to monitor a Russian drone that crossed its airspace into Ukraine earlier this month, an incident that revived debate over whether the country should intercept drones sent and missed by the Russians.
HE The current legal framework prevents such interventions in times of peace..
Romanian authorities, however, assured that Any drone intentionally targeting Romanian territory would be shot down..
NATO said there was no indication that the incidents constituted an “intentional attack” by Russia against NATO member countries.
Source: Observadora
