(Bucharest) NATO’s eastern flank defence ministers called on Wednesday for a “collective response” to repeated violations of their airspace, particularly in Romania, by Russian drones and missiles targeting Ukraine.
Since the start of its offensive in February 2022, Moscow has carried out almost daily drone and missile attacks against Ukraine, including against areas close to Ukraine’s western borders with EU and NATO members.
Romania and Latvia said earlier this month that Russian drones and missiles crossed their airspace in a nighttime attack on Ukraine.
Meeting in Bucharest, ministers from nine countries on NATO’s eastern flank said they were “deeply concerned by the repeated incursions” of “Russian drones and missiles” into the airspace of allied countries and called for “a collective response”.
They also urged the alliance to “strengthen its capabilities to detect, identify and, if necessary, engage low-flying, low-speed objects.”
“A strong and coordinated response at the allied level is needed, as well as a rapid implementation of NATO’s integrated air and missile defence rotation model,” Romanian Defence Minister Angel Tilvar told reporters.
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 neighbors to study the possibility of shooting down Russian missiles and drones.
At the start of a regional tour of Romania, he called Russia’s airstrikes a “global threat.”
Romania has mobilized two F-16 fighter jets to monitor a Russian drone that crossed its airspace toward Ukraine earlier this month, an incident that has reignited debate over whether the country should intercept stray Russian drones.
The current legal framework prevents such interventions in peacetime. However, Romanian authorities have assured that any drone intentionally targeting Romanian territory will be shot down.
Several drone fragments were also found in Romania during the war.
NATO said there was no indication that the incidents constituted an “intentional attack” by Russia against alliance member states.