Romania’s Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday that a Spanish fighter jet successfully downed a drone that entered the country’s airspace near the borders of Ukraine and Moldova.
This incident underscores the ongoing security challenges faced by NATO member states bordering Ukraine, as they deal with the repercussions of the conflict in the region.
According to a ministry statement, the drone entered via Moldova and was intercepted by an F-18 jet conducting NATO airspace policing duties at 5:01 am local time (0201 GMT).
The aircraft’s wreckage fell in an uninhabited section of the Galati region, close to the Ukrainian border.
Romania’s eastern coastline along the Black Sea remains in close proximity to frequent strike zones.
Since 2023, Romanian authorities have repeatedly recovered drone fragments on national soil following Russian strikes targeting Ukrainian port facilities along the Danube River.
Last month, Romania recorded its first drone interception since the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, when a drone entered the country’s airspace approximately 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Bucharest.
Similar security breaches have been documented across NATO’s eastern flank, including in Poland and the Baltic states.
On Friday, NATO reported that Italian fighter jets, operating as part of the alliance’s air-policing mission, intercepted and destroyed a drone that had entered Latvian airspace.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
