Romania requests coordinated NATO response to Russian drones and missiles entering its airspace

Angel Tîlvăr, Minister of Defence of Romania, has stated that a "decisive" response of NATO is needed since the countries of the "Bucharest Nine" (B9) "are deeply concerned" with numerous flights of Russian drones and missiles into the airspace of the Alliance.

According to the Digi24, Tîlvăr made statements for the media on 18 September following the meeting of the B9 countries defence ministers, held in the Parliament Palace.

He stated that the B9 format "plays a key role in the formation of a collective approach of the eastern NATO flank".

Tîlvăr confirmed that the security situation in the Black Sea region remained "concerning", and he mentioned a "ever-changing set of threats", caused, first and foremost, by Russia’s aggressive actions: hybrid tactics, such as disinformation, cyberattacks and ongoing efforts of destabilisation of the Black Sea region, as well as NATO’s entire eastern flank.

"B9 countries are deeply concerned with numerous infiltrations of Russian drones and missiles into the NATO airspace in Poland, Romania and Latvia, as well as with the escalation of tension along NATO borders.

This is why a decisive and well-coordinated decision at the level of Alliance is needed, as well as the implementation of a rotational model of the NATO integrated anti-aircraft and anti-missile defence," Tîlvăr said.

He noted that the coordination related to the support for Ukraine was discussed at the meeting, "so that Ukrainian armed forces have necessary resources for the frontline". At the same time, he called for support for Moldova's integration into the EU, which is "an investment into the security of the Black Sea region and Europe".

Earlier in September, a crash of a Russian attack drone was recorded in Latvia.

The drone reportedly flew from the territory of Belarus and was equipped with explosives.

After that and other crashes of Russian drones in Romania, NATO once again resumed the discussion about how it should react to such incidents in its airspace.