Sorin Moldovan, Romania’s deputy defense minister, said last week at the POLITICO Speakeasy at the GLOBSEC Forum in Prague that if there is a risk to civilians “you don’t give the [order] to fire.”
The full list of kit Romania is asking for remains classified, but the country’s interim Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan listed specialized radars that detect low-altitude drones as one example of the type of equipment the government had requested from NATO partners.
Radu Tudor, an independent security expert, argued one reason NATO had been slow to respond to previous Romanian air defense requests was down to the speed of Russian drone-related innovation, which rapidly puts NATO equipment out of date. “They are evolving with the threats, and we are evolving defense, but not fast enough,” he said.
Bucharest will also ask NATO allies to discuss the incident and “the need to increase the deterrence and defense capabilities on the eastern flank,” Toiu said. That discussion will take place at a preplanned meeting of the alliance’s 32 ambassadors focused on maritime security “in the coming days,” she added.
NATO allies Poland and Estonia last year triggered the Article 4 provision after airspace violations.
Similar drone incidents are rattling other NATO countries. A Romanian pilot on a NATO mission last week shot down a Ukrainian drone over Estonia. Latvia and Lithuania have also reported drone incursions. NATO countries accuse Russia of electronically redirecting Ukrainian attack drones onto alliance territory.