Romania's Defence Ministry offers to shoot down drones that breach its airspace

The Ministry of Defence of Romania has drafted a bill that would enable Romanian forces to shoot down drones that violate its airspace.

As reported by Reuters, the draft law, which was put up for public discussion on 28 October, sets out specific conditions for Romania to deploy manned and unmanned aircraft to control how its airspace is used.

"Black Sea military operations, the massive increase of the use of UAVs, either military or adapted for military use continue to create major risks at the Ukraine border and near Romania’s border area," the draft law says.

It also says that efforts continue at a European Union level to find a "unitary approach to unmanned aerial vehicles as well as to establish measures to counter risks".

The measures the draft law proposes are gradual and range from identifying the aircraft and their location to attempting contact, interception and warning shots.

Manned aircraft crossing into Romanian airspace without permission can only be destroyed if they launch an attack or react aggressively to interception, as per the draft law.

Unmanned aerial vehicles, which are most likely to be drones, can be destroyed, neutralised or taken under control, depending on the level of threat. Destruction is seen as a measure of last resort.

Moreover, under the draft law, allied systems stationed in Romania can take part in any such actions in accordance with collective defence treaties Romania has with NATO and EU members.

The wreckage of attack drones used by Russia to attack Ukrainian ports on the Danube has been repeatedly found in the border area on the Romanian side of the river.

On 29 September, NATO launched additional surveillance of Romanian airspace, deploying one more Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft.